Tales of the Amalgam'verse, Mirrorverse Side: Guardian of Skull Island
by thatguyvex01
Summary: A side-story based upon the Godzilla x MLP crossover by Tarbtano, The Bridge. In the Mirroverse realm of The Bridge, Skull Island has enjoyed generations of relative peace under the protection of it's Guardian, Ramarak, and her young apprentice, Gaw. Peace, however, is soon to be threatened by the return of an ancient, terrible foe... Kong.


**Guardian of Skull Island**

Upon cerulean, crystal waters, somewhere in the South Pacific, was an island forgotten by time and left alone by the advances of the 'modern' world. Cloaked by ever-present storms and fog, the island itself was a clear and verdant bastion of a primal time before mankind. Within its deep jungles, soaring cliffs, grassy valleys, and mighty rivers dwelled an ecology that was home to dozens upon dozens of species that existed naturally nowhere else on Earth. Ancient species, living harmoniously in an ecosystem sliced out of a far older eon, left preserved for millions of years without the touch of modern-day mankind.

At the northern region of this ancient realm that hummed with the cries and calls of species from a hundred eons was a vast and emerald green lake. Surrounded by powerful mesas draped in carpets of jungle growth, the lake was both secluded yet painstakingly open to the sapphire sky above. It was where the echoes of Skull Island's primal life gathered, the beating heart of its ecosystem, and where one of it's most powerful and oldest residents made her home and worked to train her young apprentice.

Ramarak stood still upon her two limbs, which served as both the serpentine Skullcralwer's arms and legs. Her ashen gray body was covered in white mud-paint, swirling in endless sigils and markings evocative of nature's fundamental cycles and elemental power. Her face, covered in a thick bony mask that gave her species its name, was painted with a black mud, but with the same intricate, circular designs. Behind her mask her true eyes stared tireless upon the one standing at the shore of the lake, and when Ramarak spoke it was with her kind's hissing, drawn out tones. She and her disciple understood each other, even if their "language" was that of body motion, hisses, growls, and clicks and not the grunts of human speak.

"Your mind must be as clear as the jeweled waters. Your heart must feel the breath of the Earth. Your blood must sing the sky's call. Your soul must burn with the sun's fire. All these things must become one within you, young Gaw. Otherwise, the elements will remain outside your reach."

Gaw grunted, her saurian face twitching as she remained still, eyes closed, and continued to try and meditate to find the "elements" that her mentor continued to try to teach her. She was certainly _trying_ to do as Ramarak bade her, but it was... difficult. Her mind was not clear; she kept thinking about whether her tribe would have enough food for the new batch of hatchlings that had been laid that season. Her heart could hardly feel any 'breath' from the Earth, although she did feel her own stomach gurgling at the fact that she'd skipped hunting up some breakfast when she'd turned out to have slept in a tad later than she'd intended and had to rush to the lake for today's training. She had no idea what her blood was doing other than doing what it was _supposed_ to do, which was flowing through her powerful, theropod limbs. It sure wasn't singing anything, sky related or otherwise.

As for her soul? Well, it did burn. With frustration at no matter how much she tried to do this, she could never seem to connect with the Earth the way Ramarak could! Why had Ramarak even picked her to be the next Guardian, anyway? Gaw didn't believe she had any aptitude for this, and Ramarak ought to know that! Gaw was guardian to _her_ tribe, certainly, but that hardly made her worthy of protecting the entire island. The Deathrunners were a tribe of highly intelligent dinosaurs that had evolved over many millions of years. Largely raptor-like, they were aggressive hunters but also tightly knit by a powerful family structure and growing culture that took pleasure in artistic pursuits, especially carvings and songs. The tribal lands on the west side of the island could often be filled by the singing chorus of Deathrunners, while trees and rocks alike were carved with totems and pictures of various sorts.

Gaw herself was a specific mutation of her kind, a sort of built-in genetic guardian whose purpose was to safeguard the smaller Deathrunners, who usually grew no larger than two meters, from much larger threats. Gaw herself was a towering creature, and while young yet for her kind, she was easily nearing forty meters tall and was still growing. Unlike the Deathrunners' sleeker, raptorish bodies, Gaw's was built with much thicker, firmer muscles and scales. A burning crimson shade nearly from snout to tail, her body was covered along the back, face, and key areas of her powerful arms and legs with large, deadly spikes. The tip of her tail was capped by a fan of colorful orange and yellow feathers, as well as a few smaller feathers around her legs and elbows, remnant genetic bits from other Gaw mutations.

Gaw knew she was strong and would grow stronger still as she aged past her still late adolescent stage and became a mature adult. From that point on, she'd barely age at all. Gaw's lived for centuries, and were only ever replaced upon their deaths, at which point, by mechanisms still not very well understood but merely accepted as part of the Deathrunner's natural evolution, a new Gaw would be born among the tribe. As far as Gaw knew, she was only the fifth of her name, so rarely had a Gaw actually fallen in the past. After all, the only way for a Gaw to truly die was through mishap or battle. None had died of old age.

So it wasn't a matter of physical prowess that Gaw doubted within herself. She knew, one day, she'd grow even larger and more physically powerful than Ramarak, who was no small specimen herself at around sixty meters tall and easily twice that long from snout to tail tip. No, it was what was inside her, Gaw doubted. Ramarak, like all of her Skull Crawler tribe, had a rather unusual and spiritual connection to the Earth and its elements. The tribe of serpent-like creatures had an ancient, shamantic culture that went back eons, and had for time immoreal protected the sanctity of Skull Island.

Always had the strongest Skull Crawler being Skull Island's Guardian. Always, until Ramarak broke all tradition and chose Gaw as her apprentice. The other Skull Crawlers respected Ramarak far too much to raise objection, but Gaw knew some whispered at the bizarre choice, and she herself honestly shared their sentiments. It'd been far too much of an honor for her to dare decline Ramarak's offer, but doubt persisted, even after a year of training.

And why not? All the long days of this past year and she'd yet to demonstrate any skill in the shamanic arts Ramarak was trying to teach her. Oh, Gaw excelled at any physical challenge Ramarak had given her, and paid as much attention as she could to the lessons on herb lore, but the spiritual side of things just... confounded Gaw.

"Honored Ramarak," Gaw began with a hesitant growl and dipping her head to show respect, "I keep trying to do as you ask, but no matter what I do, I cannot hear the Earth."

Ramarak looked at her with continued patience, her clicks and hisses bearing no judgment, "You will, child, if you learn but to change the way you listen. I know your tribe well, young Gaw. I knew your forebearer, before she fell to the Steel Tribe of Man that sought our island's wealth some fifty of their man-years ago."

For a moment a note of sadness crept into Ramarak's body language, a dip of her head and tail, "I still regret that I could not stop them from taking her from this place. The winds themselves spoke to me of her fate amid Man's steel jungle. Our kind was not meant for their world. Yet that is part of how I know you are meant to be my successor. The time of the Skull Crawlers is slowly waning. Our tribe grows fewer in number with each generation of hatchlings. Yet the Deathrunners remain strong, and noble. I have witnessed the echoes of the Earth within you, as I saw them within your forebear. Had I chosen her sooner, instead of hesitating, she may yet have lived. I correct that mistake by training you now."

Gaw absorbed that, her mind chewing upon Ramarak's words like she might gnaw carefully upon the last bits of flesh from a kill. She knew her predecessor had been killed by humans, but that that Ramarak had considered choosing her as a successor. Was it simply guilt, then, that drove Ramarak now?

"Perhaps choosing me _is_ the mistake," Gaw admitted, "Perhaps whatever you saw in the last Gaw is not within me? How else can you explain why I cannot feel the Earth as you do?"

"Patience, child. You expect to fly when you've yet to learn to stand," Ramarak said, and turned towards the lake. She advanced several heaving steps into the water, and Gaw admired how well Ramarak moved. Skull Crawlers always looked oddly unbalanced to her, with just their two limbs, yet they used their tails and heavy heads as such perfect counterbalances that every motion looked as sinuously smooth as a snake's.

Ramarak took a single breath and touched her snout to the water. Gaw felt a tingle across her own scales as the water stirred, vibrating as if under an unseen tremor.

"For near four hundred passings of the world's cycles have I been Guardian of Skull Island. The Earth speaks to me and I listen, and through my body and spirit does the Earth hear my call when I ask it for its favor..."

The water surged out, receding from the shoreline of the lake, and then gathered up in a wave that came crashing back towards Gaw. The protector of the Deathdrunner tribe jumped back, but the motion was unneeded. The water paused as if stopped by an unseen hand.

Then it slowly splashed back into the lake on its own and Ramarak shook her head, "Yet when I began, younger even than you are now, I could not hear, nor speak. I could not move the smallest trickle of a stream. Do not be discouraged. Each day is a step, no more, no less."

Gaw stared at the now stilling water, and heaved out a sighing grunt, "I... will keep trying."

Ramarak looked at her for a moment, then moved back to shore, "Perhaps it is enough for today. Your mind remains knotted. I release you from training for the rest of this day. Go and unwind your knots, young one. We will begin again, tomorrow."

Gaw nodded, somewhat relieved, but also unable to keep a bad sting of guilt from forming in her at the feeling she'd disappointed her mentor. Fortunately, she was saved from dwelling on that further when she heard a familiar, trilling call of an approaching Deathrunner. Ramarak paused as well, hearing the call, and the urgent nature of it.

A moment later a trio of Deathrunners came rushing from the jungle edge, their legs carrying them along the uneven terrain at a rapid pace. The three raptor-like creatures came to an abrupt halt. The lead one, bearing a head crest of feathers further decorated with intertwined bones that denoted her rank as a hunt-leader, gave a courteous bow of her head to both Ramarak and Gaw.

"Honored Ramarak, Great Gaw, I come from the nesting grounds where a hunting party has returned with... some strange news."

Gaw and Ramarak exchanged glances, and Gaw lowered her head to get a better look at her subjects. She knew this one well enough to know this would be no prank, and that they would not have come unless this was something dire. "Speak, what news?"

"When hunting the large three-horns in the central river basin, the hunting party came across unusual man-creatures. They were not of the tribe of man we know that dwell upon the river. These were... fiercer. Larger. They struck with weapons of metal, killing two hunters before being brought low themselves."

Gaw jerked slightly in surprise. Metal was not unknown to her tribe, but it was rare, often only accessible through the machines of Man that flew in the sky or floated upon the water that at times crashed upon Skull Island through human mishap. What were humans with metal weapons doing on the island?

"What manner of weapons were these?" Gaw asked, recalling the tales of old, "Did they spit fire and stinging bites from tubes?"

"No, Great Gaw, the hunters saw these were metal weapons in the shape of claws and fang, some larger than the humans using them. The metal was also something the man-creatures wore upon their bodies like scales, with strange head coverings shaped like some ugly ape-thing-"

Ramarak nearly shoved Gaw aside with her sudden movement, suddenly putting her face directly in front of the Deathrunners, who hoped back in fright as Ramarak's hissing voice spoke, "Are you certain of this!? They wore helmets shaped as apes?"

"Y-yes, Honored Ramarak, that is what the hunting party told of," the now rather uneasy Deathrunner stammered, and Gaw could not blame them. In all her years of having known Ramarak, she'd _never_ seen such a sudden and intense reaction. Every inch of Ramarak was stiff, as if... afraid? No, not just fear. Gaw could smell the fear, but it was mixed in with another emotion unfamiliar coming from Ramarak. Rage.

"Ramarak, what is it? What do you know?" Gaw asked, and Ramarak stepped back from the suddenly very anxious Deathrunners. Gaw watched as Ramarak composed herself, forcing her emotions back down as she quieted her tone.

"Not enough, yet," Ramarak said, "I must see the bodies of these men."

"We can take you to them," the Deathrunner said, bowing low, "They were kept from being eaten yet, until we reported to the Great Gaw. We thought she might wish to examine them before they were devoured."

"Good thinking," Gaw commended, "I, too, would like to see these man-creatures. And I'd like to know why they have you so out of sorts, Ramarak. Is this a threat to my tribe, these men?"

Ramarak looked her dead in the eye, "If it is as I fear, this may be a threat to the entire island."

* * *

The humans didn't look very impressive to Gaw, as she examined their corpses. Her Deathrunners were ideal hunters and capable of incredible skill in the art of killing, as these men had discovered. The death blows had been efficient and clean, if not without a certain level of dismemberment and gutted entrails. Yet each man was 'intact', which allowed for the examining of detail.

They were in a gully just off the main valley the Deathrunner tribe used for it's nesting ground, located on the northwest region of Skull Island. Dozens upon dozens of egg mounds made of dried mud were situated between shady jungle trees, and the beautiful trilling singing of Deathrunner parents awaiting the arrival of the next generation filled the air. As was customary, the feeding area was not far from the nesting grounds, where meat from kills was kept to feed the hatchlings. Most Deathrunner adults ate their kills on site, but it never hurt to have a ready food supply nearby, especially where hungry young ones were concerned.

Gaw couldn't help but have smiled a bit at all the full nests. She had never lain herself, as Gaws only did so in times when Deathrunner numbers were dangerously low, and could only mate for the purpose when they were still small enough to take such a mate from among the tribe's males. Yet she couldn't help a bit of motherly contentment seeing her tribe would continue to grow, and felt happy for those in her tribe awaiting the hatching of their offspring. Perhaps this was just a genetic factor at work, but it reminded Gaw of her purpose as her tribe's protector, and she would take threats to their well being _very_ seriously, which was why she examined these dead humans carefully now.

There were about eight of them. It was hard to tell, as one or two weren't wholly in one piece. The only humans she'd seen before were of the quiet tribe that occupied Skull Island's largest central river. The small, mostly hairless monkey creatures seemed to her like the most non-threatening things she could conceive of, lacking hard scales or hide, with small mostly blunt teeth, and bearing no natural weapons such as fangs or claws. It still galled her that her predecessor had been killed by humans, although Ramarak assured her that the humans of the outside world possessed powerful magic known as 'technology' that could make them deadly beyond imagining. Looking upon these new humans, she could almost see it.

First of all, these humans were _much_ larger than the ones she was familiar with. Their bodies were thick with muscles, and it seemed to Gaw their cranium were somehow thicker and wider. Their features certainly seemed more brutish, and if Gaw wasn't seeing things, it seemed like they filed their teeth to sharp points to make them into artificial fangs. Their hair was almost all dark, long, and matted, their skin strangely pale and grayed, like ash. And as her hunters had reported, they clad themselves in a combination of darkly stained leathers and plates of metal. Their head coverings, 'helmets' Ramarak had said, were shaped in crude imitation of some large, fierce, slope-browed ape bearing savage fangs in an eternal snarl. More than that, the chest pieces of the armor bore the same visage. The weapons of the dead humans were piled nearby, all a collection of large, viscerally jagged blades that indeed reminded Gaw of giant claws, any one of them large enough to split one of her Deathrunners in half were a hefty enough blow struck.

Ramarak examined the bodies as well, and went very still.

"Hunters," she spoke to the gathered party of Deathrunner hunters that had engaged the humans, "Tell me, when you fought these men, did they make sounds? Speak in their man-tounge?"

"Yes," one of the hunters chirped, "I apologize, Honored Ramarak, it is hard to imitate their speech, but I will try."

Deathrunners _were_ good at imitating the calls of other species, although human language was almost entirely unknown to them. The hunter gurgled and spat a few times, trying to get his vocals to match the grunting sounds of human throats.

What came out was an almost rhythmic chant, "Urshak kong... urshak kong... urshak kong..."

One of the other hunters nodded and whistled, "Yes, they kept calling that over and over as they fought, even as we ripped their innards out. One, who slew my nest-sister, cried it out even as I tore its throat open."

Gaw shuddered slightly at that. Her hunters were brave and would fight to the death for the tribe, but this sounded almost like some manner of battle madness. Why would they chant that, even as they died?

Beside her, Ramarak had closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"Ramarak?" Gaw said.

"It must be. They would not be here, were he truly dead. Not a small scouting party, like this. And if scouts have come, an actual attack would not be far behind."

Gaw, admittedly, was getting a tad fed up. She respected Ramarak greatly. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say Gaw even considered Ramarak a friend. She knew she was not Ramarak's equal yet in prowess, but they were equals in terms of their respective responsibilities to their tribes. Ramarak might have been guardian of the island, but Gaw was still the leader of her tribe and _this_ was starting to look more and more like an approaching threat to that tribe. Gaw did not react well to threats to her tribe.

"Ramarak!" she bellowed, raising her voice to a challenging roar that startled many of the nearby Deathrunners who were only used to hearing their Gaw's roar when battle was about to commence.

Ramarak gave a startled hiss and blinked at Gaw in astonishment, and Gaw went on, growling, tailing swaying behind her, "You will_ stop_ speaking in half mutterings and explain yourself to me. You are my mentor, yes, and I respect you, but when it comes to threats to my people, I _am_ Gaw! And Gaw demands answers, so I know where my claws must be bared!"

Ramarak's surprise swiftly faded to an understanding incline of her head followed by an apologetic click of her tongue, "Yes, young Gaw, you are right. I am not explaining myself, and I must. I just needed to be sure, to see the proof for myself, first. Come, follow me. I shall tell you everything."

As Ramarak turned to leave, Gaw canted her head towards her hunters, "I want the island patrolled thoroughly. Send hunting parties, large ones, to watch for more of these men. Also ensure our lands' sentries are doubled. I want none of these man-things near our nesting grounds."

"It shall be done, Great Gaw."

Gaw then followed Ramarak, who led her on a path out of the Deathrunner's valley and towards the southwest portion of the island. Ramarak was silent as they passed by ravines teaming with Skull Island's many denizens, rushing across streams and rivers that flowed between towering cliffs. Gaw knew almost every part of the island nearly as intimately as Ramarak did, so it didn't take her long to realize where she was being taken.

"Ramarak, why do we stray towards the forbidden place?" she asked, speaking of the southwesternmost part of the island, where greenery faded and would be replaced by murkier, smoke-choked rock and barren canyons. "None go here. Your tribe has guarded it for centuries. Ramarak, speak, damn you!"

Ramarak stopped, almost too abruptly for Gaw to stop without toppling herself over. Gaw gave Ramarak an annoyed look, but her irritation faded upon seeking Ramarak's face. Skull Crawlers were not the most emotive of beings, but Ramarak still managed to put forth a remarkable sense of_ weight_ to her grave stare that she fixed Gaw with. It was... unnerving, like looking into a visage of death. For a second Gaw wondered if she'd overstepped her bounds, but when Ramarak spoke, it was not in anger, but with the heaviness of a great burden.

"Gaw, I must tell you a tale..."

Ramarak began to walk again, but more slowly now, and Gaw kept pace with her as Ramarak's voice echoed in the ever more barren canyon as they neared the forbidden portion of the island.

"Long ago, long before I or even my parents were hatched, Skull Island was not as it was today. It had no guardian to keep balance. It was a crueler, more savage place. My tribe and yours competed like any other, killing for territory with no sense of the cooperation we enjoy today. But then there was a great storm, unlike any other in history. It almost flooded the island, but it survived. Yet, with the storm, came new arrivals... humans. Humans upon great ships. They came seeking a new home and chose our island to build upon. These humans called themselves the Tagatu, and with them they brought their servants, the Great Apes."

Gaw listened, trying to imagine a time when her tribe and Ramarak's were not friends. It was hard to get her head wrapped around. And how long ago was this, exactly? Why had she never heard of it until now? Through a part of her was eager to ask, she kept her peace and let Ramarak continue her story.

"The Tagatu were, like other humans, ever seeking to tame the Earth and nature. The Great Apes were their greatest success. Huge, powerful, yet docile and under the human tribe's control. Upon Skull Island the Tagatu sought to understand their new home and to subjugate it. They had already mastered an art known as 'alchemy' and with the unique plants of Skull Island, they learned ever more ways of creating strange mixtures, substances, potions, and cures that gave them great power. Power to subdue the denizens of the island. They could control or keep at bay the dinosaurs and found ways to make their Great Apes even larger, stronger. In time, their rule of the island would have been completed, if not for our tribes."

"Deathunners and Skull Crawlers," Gaw said, "It was these... Tagatu that brought our tribes together in common cause?"

"Yes," Ramarak said, "The first of our shaman made peace with the first of the Gaw, and Deathrunner and Skull Crawler stood as one against the Tagatu's influence. At first, we sought only to keep our portion of the island, and only to defend ourselves. But the Tagatu's thirst for power, for domination, could not be contained. They used their alchemy to make their Great Apes ever more savage, brutal, and strong. They even began to change themselves, to become less... human. The fighting became more bloody, and our tribes began to lose ground."

"What happened? How did we win? We must have, if you and I stand here now, and the Tagatu are but memory," Gaw said as they came to the end of the winding canyon that Ramarak had led them down. It now opened up into a dead plain of barren rock and dirt, interspersed by gaseous fissures that filled the air with a foul-smelling, yellowish miasma. For as far as Gaw could see, rocky cliffs stood vigil over a lifeless area of empty rocks and dirt... until she squinted and could see more detail.

Bones. Bones of giant apes intermixed with the broken remains of rock walls, stone buildings half collapsed upon themselves, like broken beehives. Armor and weapons, rusted to nearly nothing, lay scattered like the bones of their wielders. By the size of the some of the skeletons Gaw estimated the largest were easily thirty or forty meters tall, perhaps even larger in some cases. In the distance, she could just barely make out the shattered remnants of some vast structure, like a fang that had rotted out down the middle.

"The Tagatu were their own undoing," Ramarak said, gazing upon the... graveyard of what must have once been a proud civilization. "In their thirst for conquest, they created the instrument of their destruction."

She nodded towards the cliff to the left, and Gaw gazed upon it... and felt her blood chlll.

Painted in ancient dried blood, was the image of a massive ape standing among his peers. If the largest of the other apes was akin to the bones she saw, then Gaw estimated this... king of apes was easily over a hundred meters tall. Even in the picture, ancient as it was, Gaw could almost _feel_ the primordial strength dripping off this creature. Every fiber of hair bristled with power and command, like that of a natural born ruler, yet shadowed by an aura of menace. The picture showed him like his kin, clad in thick plates of metal armor, and bearing a massive, broad-bladed axe.

"What was he?"

"Kong," Ramarak replied, "King of Skull Island. It's first, and last King, before the line of Guardians was established."

Gaw remembered the chant of the humans her hunters had killed. "That name, it's the same as what my people heard the humans chanting. But wait, no, that's impossible... you are saying this Kong yet lives, after such a vast length of time?"

"You and I both shall enjoy centuries of life, young Gaw, if we do not fall to violence," Ramarak reminded her, "When the Tagatu sought the secrets of power in their alchemy, they did not just take it from the plants around Skull Island, they took it from it's denizens. When the first Gaw fell in battle, they took her body, and stripped it of its secret to longevity."

Gaw felt a sudden sick feeling inside her. Her ancestor, her _first_ ancestor, was... violated by these Tagatu!? They took her corpse and tore from its secrets to long life? What _else_ had they taken? She let out a violent growl and Ramarak gave her a calming touch with her snout.

"I know. I feel the same. Many Skull Crawlers died in the war, and their bodies were also studied. The Tagatu took from us both, and used that stolen knowledge to make their savage apes all the more powerful. And Kong was their greatest creation. Larger and crueler than any of his kin, with strength surpassing all others. He would not age as others did, and even his intelligence was keen beyond the Tagatu's reckoning. He became their downfall, for they could not control him. He turned upon his masters, and made _himself_ King, enslaving the Tagatu and his fellow Great Apes to his will."

"How was he defeated?" Gaw asked, looking once more upon the painting upon the large cliff face, and having trouble imagining how something so large and powerful could be beaten.

"Courage, luck, the sacrifice of many lives, including almost all of the original Skull Crawler shamans, and... the Tagatu themselves. Or perhaps, just the 'Tagu', as they are now," Ramarak said, and Gaw cocked her head.

"Tagu? Wait, do you... you cannot mean the humans who dwell on the river, can you!?"

"I do. They are descendants of the 'Tagu', those who turned against Kong and brought to our ancestors a chance to defeat him. For you see, while the Tagatu had made Kong, they also made us."

"I don't understand."

"In the past, the largest of the Gaw could only reach half your size. My kind grew not much larger. The Tagu brought the secret alchemy with them that grew the second Gaw larger, and allowed one of my ancestors to grow in size as well. It was that which evened the odds, and our ancestors fought and defeated Kong, although at great cost."

"But he was killed, then, right?" Gaw asked, and Ramarak shook her head.

"No. Kong was beaten, but not killed. He took his surviving subjects, Atu and Great Ape alike, and retreated. Retreated into Skull Island's underground, the Hollow Earth below."

Gaw knew of the Hollow Earth, to a degree. There were a rare few openings to it around Skull Island that occasionally yielded new, interesting, and sometimes dangerous creatures to the island. To her knowledge, no one from the island went down there, save the Skull Crawlers who used the most surface levels of it for their own breeding grounds. She'd always assumed the Skull Crawlers preferred the underground because their species may have once come from there, but now she was suspecting there was a different reason.

"I see your thoughts upon your face, and you are partially correct," Ramarak said, "My kind originally hail from the Hollow Earth, but we also now carefully guard its entrances. That is part of our task as Guardian."

"Guardian... that term began to be used after Kong's defeat, then?"

"After his first defeat, yes," Ramarak replied, and Gaw coughed quizzically.

"_First_ defeat?"

Ramarak responded by crossing the threshold of a steep downward slope into the hazy basin. Gaw, after a moment, followed with steps that tread lightly upon the ground. She felt like she was entering a different realm as if the cold, dark pits within the simian skulls dotting this dead place were staring back at her with malevolence. Her very scales itched with the sensation of not belonging. Letting out an uneasy growl, she looked around, almost as if she expected to find the skeletal remains of Kong's kin raising from their graves to do battle once more.

"You feel it..." Ramarak said.

"Feel what? I only feel as if this place is _quite_ unsettling and I'd rather be anywhere else," Gaw said, shuddering as she stepped around a gaseous hole in the ground from which more of the faint yellow smoke rose, "It's like stepping over my own grave."

"The land here is tainted," Ramarak said, "The Earth wounded. While the Tagatu split, and the Tagu came to dwell with us... the other half of the human tribe, the _Atu_, went with Kong. They became his fanatical worshipers. To them, Kong is more than King. He is their 'god'. Three hundred years ago, when I was still young, and training with my master, Kong returned. He had formed a kingdom deep in the Hollow Earth, and there his Atu worshipers had continued their arts in twisted alchemy, now at their god's behest. When Kong struck, it was with an army of mutated monstrosities from the Hollow Earth at his command, along with a host of Atu warriors, like the one's your hunting party found."

It was then that Gaw noticed that amid the ape skeletons, there were others. The remains of odd creatures she didn't recognize, ranging from horrifically large and bloated chitin remains from something scorpion-like, to what appeared to be the skeletons of_ six_ limbed lizards with deformed skulls bearing curled horns. Human skeletons dotted the area as well, along with their ancient, broken weapons and armor.

"These remains aren't all from the first war," Gaw noted, "Some are more recent."

"Yes," Ramarak confirmed as they got closer to the looming, split pyramid ahead, "When Kong returned, I stood with my master, and many Skull Crawler brothers and sisters against him. Your tribe as well, along with the third Gaw of your line. This place was our battlefield. Kong made his stand here so that he could reclaim the seat of the Tagatu's former glory, and to rebuild their city in his image. Look..."

Ramarak pointed back the way they had come, north and east, and Gaw turned and gazed upward, her saurian brow furrowing. A mountain rose from Skull Island's foggy depths, and while Gaw had seen this dark mountain many times from a northern or westward angle, this was her first time gazing upon it from_ this_ direction. And what she saw made her chest rumble with a deep, threatened growl.

"A...skull?"

The western face of the looming mountain was carved in such a way that it resembled a vast, leering skull, it's dark eyes and gaping maw looking upon the former land of the Tagatu as if with great hunger. Ramarak hissed low.

"Yes, the Tagatu shaped it thusly, as a symbol of their supposed power over life and death. Kong himself likely sees it as an image of himself, in all his misguided pride."

Ramarak slowed her hisses and growls growing quieter, her form shaking slightly as her tail lashed in old, remembered pains, "The battle was a horrendous thing. I saw so many of my kind die that day. Kong brought an army of monsters born of alchemy, fanatic Atu warriors, and the remnants of his Great Ape kin. However _nothing_ could compare to himself. None could stand against his axe. Bodies piled around him like runoff from a river. Blood soaked him until he was like a towering, red demon. Only my master and the third Gaw could withstand his onslaught. The rest of us could just barely hold off the rest of his host, slaying the lesser Great Apes that stood with him as to allow my master and your predecessor to face Kong himself in brutal combat."

Gaw felt cold inside, yet also fascinated by the recounting. She was frightened, to be sure, but a part of her blood was also boiling. To stand against such a horrifying creature must have taken great courage, and a part of her was proud to be part of the same line of Gaw's that fought this beast more than once, and somehow saw to his defeat. Terrible as Ramarak made it sound, Gaw almost wished she could see that long-ago battle, to witness the bravery of her forebears.

"Why have I not heard of any of this?" she asked.

"The telling of this tale was not encouraged," Ramarak replied, "And generations forget quickly what was. This land was made forbidden, and with none recounting the story, it was forgotten."

"A... poor decision," Gaw said, "Leaving this forgotten has ill-prepared us for Kong's return. How _was_ he beaten, the second time?"

Ramarak paused and looked back at her, small, beady eyes gleaming, "I cheated."

A few more lumbering steps brought them to the base of the pyramid. It was a blocky affair of smooth stone slabs, piled high in wide tires to reach what was once a square top. It was sundered down the center by what looked to be a great force from within, like a rupturing egg. Gaw wasn't sure just how tall it was, but it cast a long shadow and she had to crane her neck to clearly see it's top. Beyond the pyramid, she heard the gentle roar of the surf, and realized that they were near the southwestern-most tip of the island. Seeing through the rendered center of the pyramid, Gaw could make out the edge of a seaside cliff the pyramid had been built upon, likely several hundred feet high.

Glancing at Ramarak, Gaw saw her mentor had a grim, far off look in her eyes.

"All but a handful of the Great Apes who came with Kong had fallen, and his host was being held back, but our tribes were being bled dry. Seeing my master and the third Gaw barely holding against Kong, I slipped behind enemy lines. This ruined city was where Kong first returned, to claim his 'throne'. This pyramid was the Tagatu's temple, and Kong used it as his seat when he ruled. I knew he could not ignore a threat to it. Not a stab at his very pride. Sneaking to this place, I stole upon some of the Atu's alchemic fire, and lit it upon the temple here. Within was the seeds of ancient alchemical arts, gathered plants and mutated herbs from all over the island. The resulting flame caught explosive concoctions within and tore apart the temple itself. Kong's fury could be heard from every corner of the island."

Ramarak coughed out a laugh, "I did this, knowing I was going to die, but believing that by drawing Kong here, I'd buy my master and tribe time to regroup. But I underestimated the old alchemy of the Tagatu. From this torn temple, foul gases poured, searing the lungs of any who breathed it. Only with the aid of the element of air was I able to escape harm, but Kong was weakened by the gas, and the lesser Great Apes that followed him were even worse affected. Too furious to leave his throne without repaying the insult, he chased me, choking on the gas that poured forth into this part of the island, his followers either dropping dead or forced into retreat. I then led him back towards my master and the third Gaw, where together we turned to face the weakened Kong. We dealt him many heavy wounds, until my master called upon the Earth to open a deep fissure in the ground. Kong fell back into the depths, and we prayed that would be the end of him."

With a slight, ironic chuffing sound, Gaw said, "Apparently not."

"No, apparently not," Ramarak agreed, "I don't know if he's spent this whole time recovering from his injuries, or if he's spent it rebuilding his army, but if Atu scouts are on Skull Island, it _must_ mean Kong is returning to finish his conquest."

"Then we will stop him, as our ancestors did before us," Gaw said, sniffing the air and growling at the foul stink of the yellow smoke, "You said this gas weakened him before, yes? Could it do the same now?"

"No. We ourselves are unaffected by it, are we not? The gas has lost its original potency over the years. As you can see, it remains seeped into the Earth, and rises from deep below. Aside from its terrible stink, it cannot harm any longer. At least as long as nature itself does not ignite it."

"Ignite it?" Gaw asked curiously.

"In great quantities, the gas can burst into flame. This has happened only rarely, when lightning has struck from the sky," Ramarak explained, and Gaw grunted in thought.

"I see. Regardless, we must plan, Ramarak. Your tribe is much depleted from what it once was, and while mine is strong, if Kong brings an army as before, this may prove... difficult. Do we even know where he will rise? How many entrances are there to the Hollow Earth on the island?"

"Four that my tribe know of, one of which is here beneath this temple," Ramarak replied, turning away from the corpse of a building, "My kind will scout the depths, while yours remains vigilant above. One way or another, we will know it when he comes."

"Now we just need to figure out how to beat him," Gaw said, "Preferably for good, this time."

* * *

Over the course of the next several days, five more scouting parties of Atu were discovered sneaking about the island. Each time the party was larger than the one before it, and it took more effort from Gaw's Deathrunners or the Skull Crawlers to trap and kill them. The Skull Crawlers were having trouble figuring out just where the Atu were rising from, as well. The four known entrances to the Hollow Earth were being observed, but somehow the Atu must have found another way.

Or _made_ one. Gaw had not discounted that these humans could dig themselves new exits from the underground, and might have a hidden passage somewhere on the island. Once she suggested this idea to Ramarak, the Skull Crawlers shifted their search to places on the island where no entrances to the Hollow Earth had been before.

In the meantime, Gaw prepared her people for war.

Deathrunners were natural hunters, and as far as Gaw could discern, war was just another kind of hunt. The nesting grounds were abuzz with the eager yet nervous trills of her people as they secured the eggs in new hiding places that would hopefully be safe from the fighting. Hunting parties were organized, and fresh ambush points scouted. Even if it was unclear where the enemy would come from, the Deathrunners would ensure that none would pass without having to fear the very shadows of the jungle.

Gaw herself had little she could actually _do_, which frustrated her to no end. Once she set her hunters on a task, they generally did it without the need for her to hover over them. There was not much she could do for personal preparation, other than either help patrol the island, or try and meditate and try and feel the elements. At Ramarak's suggestion, Gaw attempted the later.

So it was that four days after the first Atu scout party had been discovered Gaw was back again upon the short of Skull Island's central lake, rather fruitlessly trying to listen to the elements and hear even a hint of their presence.

It seemed like every time she got close to stilling her mind and feeling the Earth around her, images of the blood-covered, savage King entered her thoughts. It was almost as if she could hear his bellowing roar, and the thunderous drumming of his mighty fists upon his chest. Any quiet within her mind was interrupted by crystal clear images of the towering, dark ape, replete in his iron armor and bearing his death-dealing axe in one powerful fist. The thoughts felt so real, Gaw imagined they must be imparted to her from her ancestor Gaws that faced Kong before. Not true memories, but an instinctive impression so powerful, it _felt_ real as any memory she might have.

It only reinforced her nervous, uneasy energy that continued to build inside her and made proper meditation next to impossible. Over the past four days she took more than a few breaks to go hunting to ease her mind. At least this was a skill that came naturally to her and gave her a sense of inner balance, with the added benefit of satiating hunger. Given her large size, and the fact that she was still growing, she did need to eat a fair amount to satisfy her belly. However, a full stomach didn't help her training or negate her continued failures to either hear or call upon nature's elements.

She kept trying, regardless, up until a messenger came to her that evening, before the sun had begun it's descent towards the horizon.

"Great Gaw, reports from the Skull Crawler tribe! Drums! The sound of huge drums, from the deep! The ground shakes, and their sentries tell of a great host rising up. They march on the south side of the island, towards an entrance just discovered. A great tunnel dug out by strange human tools."

Gaw opened her eyes and gazed upon the large, placid green lake. She wondered idly if this would be her last time seeing it, before discarding such useless thoughts and turned to the Deathrunner messenger, "As I suspected, they dug themselves a new hole. So be it, we will face them there! Has Ramarak gathered her tribe?"

"Yes, they go now to the large basin just north of the hole. The hunting parties are prepared to join them at your command."

"It is given," Gaw barked, shaking the numbness of her attempted mediation off as she took large, swift steps away from the lake, "I go there myself, now! Go and tell my words to the other hunters, and all of you join me there with all the speed of the wind!"

The Deathrunner did not waste a second, and was off at a sprint before Gaw was even done growling her orders. Now she rushed south, knowing the basin that the Deathrunner had described. It was only a short few miles or so to the northeast of the forbidden place where the Tagatu had once dwelled. The dark mountain with its hidden skull visage towered over the basin's northwest site, and a river forked through the area, running north to south. When Gaw arrived she could hear the chorus of undulating hisses, like the rise and fall of ocean surf, and came upon the Skull Crawler tribe at the edge of the jungle leading into the basin.

Ramarak's tribe had indeed dwindled in numbers over the years, but they still stood at nearly a hundred strong. They ranged in size from younglings barely old enough to exit their nests, standing a mere three or four meters tall, to powerfully built adults who approached twenty or even thirty meters high at their spiked shoulders. Since Skull Crawlers were born from the egg with sufficient size and natural instinct to hunt and kill, even the youngest of the tribe were present for battle, all painted with the swirling patterns of the elements upon their bodies. Ramarak towered above them all, her sixty meter bulk facing south, towards the far edge of the basin.

There, Gaw could see a sharp, if relatively short peak rising from a jagged slope. The thick vines and jungle growth concealed it well, but if she looked closely Gaw could make out the carved out portion of rock within the peak that must be the tunnel into the Hollow Earth. And it was already occupied.

Flames from a thousand torches glittered in a darkening evening light, stemming from ranks upon ranks of iron-clad Atu warriors. They stood still as statues, save for those among them who beat upon massive drums made from bone and skin. That sight alone would not have impressed Gaw, for thousands or not, she did not fear humans. Yet among the humans were humongous shapes. Dark gray scale and hide was twisted with overgrown, knotted muscles. Horns curled and curved at odd angles, while teeth grew over teeth and sprouted sharply from ever open, drooling maws. No two creatures were exactly alike, but all bore faint, mutated resemblance to Skull Island's dinosaur denizens, changed by alchemy and controlled by Atu riders. Some had more limbs than they should, while others bore uncomfortably large spurs of bone jutting from their arms or backs.

Uncomfortably, Gaw realized some bore a faint resemblance to her own nature, as she herself was a spiked, larger, more heavily muscled mutation of her own kind. But while her's was a natural mutation earned through nature's process of evolution, these mutants were twisted into their current forms by the hands of others. It churned her gut and filled her with a deep sadness and rage. These poor, pitiful creatures. Slaying them would be merciful, to end what looked like such a suffering existence, wouldn't it?

She must have issued forth a deep growl, making her thoughts known, for Rarmarak turned a look towards her, and rumbled, "The Atu have never ceased developing their alchemy, it seems, with Kong's encouragement. Those creatures, and the Atu themselves, are no longer what could be called natural."

"It's painful to look upon," Gaw said, joining Ramarak's side, "If only there was a way to help them, besides giving them a swift, clean death."

Ramarak hissed agreement, "If Kong falls, perhaps, one day, the Atu can be shown the wisdom of a changed path, but as long as their god remains, so too will the madness of the Atu."

"Where is this self proclaimed 'god'?" Gaw asked.

"He comes," Ramarak replied, "Listen to the Earth."

Gaw grunted, about to say that she still couldn't hear the elements within her, but then she realized that Ramarak was speaking more literally than usual. Gaw knelt, and placed one large, clawed hand upon the ground. She felt the ground quake in a steady tremor. Something large was moving beneath, rising upward as the tremors grew louder.

At that time, Gaw's tribe arrived in their multitudes. Much larger than the Skull Crawler tribe, around five hundred Deathrunners surged forth from the jungle in a red-scaled and feathered tide. They moved in swift, organized hunting packs of twenty apiece, ready to coordinate their attacks with one another to flank or surround enemies at need. These five hundred did not even represent the full tribe, for several hundred more waited at specific ambush points leading back towards the nesting grounds, ready to make the enemy pay in blood for every inch of ground.

Upon their arrival, the Deathrunners rose up a storm of warcries, filling the air with a wave of deathly shrieks that for a moment managed to drown out the pounding of the Atu's drums. The Skull Crawlers joined in, adding their longer, sharper hisses to the call, and for a moment Gaw was filled with pride for her people and Ramarak's. They were, altogether, outnumbered some three to one by the host before them, but the tribes of Skull Island showed no fear.

At least until Kong arrived.

His coming was heralded by a crack of stone louder than any peal of thunder. The peak upon which the Atu had built their tunnel split down its center, as if hammered by a fist from above. Ramrarak growled at the sight, her eyes narrowing behind her skull-shaped mask.

"No... the elements? They come to _his_ call!?"

"What?" Gaw asked in astonishment, just before the Earth itself _heaved_ beneath them.

The entire basin trembled under a localized earthquake, shaking many off their feet, even among the Atu who seemed to expect this to happen. The harshest of the upheaval was focused upon the peak, which continued to split, widening the tunnel itself until it was more of a grand fissure in the ground, billowing rock dust into the evening sky.

When the shaking ended, all was silent for a second... then the drums of the Atu began again, louder, faster. Something stirred in the Earth's depths, rising from the fissure. Silhouetted by the setting sun loomed a titanic shadow, it's powerful frame appearing more like a mountain than a thing of live flesh.

Kong stood close to one hundred meters tall. Unnaturally bristled and thick fur of a charcoal black color covered a body of wide, unimaginably toned and thick muscles. While Gaw could see the ape-like qualities in him, it was as if his physique and features were pushed beyond the limits of nature to emphasis bestial power and ferocity. His arms were long and unbelievably thick, the muscles beneath his black fur bulging atop one another in a corded mass. His belly was wide, but not with fat, but such raw musculature that rounded him out as if he were himself a mountain. His upper body was clad in interlocking plates of dark iron, held together by chains thicker than tree trunks, forming an effective yet crude armor bearing large shoulder plates and a long leg guards that still left his massive, ape-like feet bare. A helmet of iron beaten into the shape of a skull covered his head and upper face, a face that bore a brutish, wide brow, and a mouth of sharpened teeth and almost deformed canines that seemed too large for his mouth. Beneath the helmet, his amber eyes seemed to gleam with keen intellect at all he surveyed.

While his presence exuded a primal aura that was akin to the picture Gaw had seen depicted upon the cliff in the forbidden lands, her keen eyes picked up on subtle differences as well. She couldn't be certain, but there was a somehow more controlled bearing to the Kong she saw before her, and eyes that held as much intelligence as ferocity, but with an oddly pained cast that didn't match what she was expecting. Shaking the sensation off, she took note of the weapon he carried. Carried casually in his right hand, as if it weighed no more than a trifle, was a gigantic axe of rawly forged, black iron, it's double-bladed head capped by an all too familiar skull; that of a Skull Crawler matriarch.

"...The skull of the first shaman," Ramarak whispered in both mourning and hatred in equal measure.

"I don't understand," grunted Gaw, steadying herself, "Did he just call upon the element of earth?"

"Yes, and I cannot grasp how," Ramarak said, bolstering herself with a deep breath, "But it changes nothing. He must still fall."

"Agreed, but, does something seem... different to you, Ramarak? You faced him before."

Her mentor appeared disturbed by the question, opening her mouth and hissing low in confusion, "I don't know. His smell is different than I remember, but he's had centuries to further pollute his body with alchemy. What matter is it if he seems different?"

"None," Gaw said, but inwardly she continue to observe Kong carefully, wondering what was bothering her about this self-proclaimed ape King.

Kong had been giving the island a long, slow gaze, ignoring the tribes of Skull Island arrayed before him. To Gaw, it almost looked as if Kong was taking in the scenery with a loving, yet covetous gaze. Only when he finished looking from one horizon of Skull Island to the other did he finally settle his glittering, piercing eyes upon his foes.

He inverted his axe and planted it into the ground with tremendous force, then raised his fists to his ironclad chest. With a pounding as loud as the quake he'd caused, Kong beat his chest and roared, it's meaning clear to Gaw as if the words were drilled right into her brain.

"Skull Island, your King has come!"

The Atu beat their drums alongside their god, and chanted his name. Kong himself finished his display and picked up his axe once more, shouldering it as he began to stride forward. Alone. His army remained in place behind him.

Gaw narrowed her eyes, "Does he intend to fight alone?"

"No, this as it was before," Ramarak said, beginning to stride forward to meet Kong, "When we faced each other before, he and his Great Ape kin made pretensions to mercy. I imagine he will do the same now, demanding our surrender, demanding our service, and pretending he is doing us honor in the process. Let us humor it, as it gives time for our people to recover their nerve."

Gaw could see that perhaps Ramarak was right. Kong's appearance, his raw, imposing presence, had taken a bit of the gusto out of the Deathrunners and Skull Crawlers. There was no doubting they'd still fight, but looking upon the sheer magnitude of their foe must have left many wondering if victory was even possible? Gaw couldn't deny the thought had crossed her own mind. She'd felt... well, _large_ at her forty-meter height. Only Ramarak was larger, and Gaw knew she'd one day surpass that height. Yet she doubted she'd _ever_ get close to Kong's pure mass. Beyond mere height or muscles, Kong possessed a primal aura of power and indomitable strength that pulsed from his every footstep.

His commanding presence could be felt like an electric buzz in the air, and it was hard not to feel fear when his eyes moved over her. But Gaw persisted, refusing to show weakness, and followed Ramarak out into the middle of the basin.

She felt the ground tremble at each of Kong's steps, but ignored it as she and Ramarak fell under his shadow. He stood some fifty meters off from them, glancing between Ramarak and Gaw with a hint of amusement in his eyes, but it was tempered by a spark of anger and pain that struck Gaw once again as odd.

"A Skull Crawler matriarch, and a Gaw. Always the same, with this pairing. And if I am not mistaken, you are the same Crawler who laid her claws upon my family's ancient home, are you not?"

"I am Ramarak, Guardian of Skull Island," Ramarak replied, drawing up her head and starring back at Kong's intense gaze.

"An interesting title to choose for yourself. What you are is a thief of a kingdom that was never yours, and as much a killer as I. Do you not remember your oh so clever tactic from centuries past? How you abused the very 'foul' alchemy of the Tagatu and used it as a weapon against us when we sought to rightfully take back Skull Island from your kind last time? I remember it quite clearly, the choking fumes that poisoned both Great Ape and the land alike."

"I did what I must, I take no pride in unleashing such foulness," Ramarak hissed, but Kong barked a bitter laugh.

"Spare me the rhetoric. Your actions saw the death of the last of my kin. Those who did not die that day from the poison they inhaled survived only to waste away much more slowly and more painfully in the months to come. But I am not here to exact revenge. I am a King, not a petty child seeking his parent's killer. You did, as you say, what you had to, and I even... respect that there was a sort of honor in that."

Ramarak's tail twitched back and forth, a incredulous growl on her tongue, "You speak as if you were not the Kong whom I fought..."

A humorless smirk cracked the Great Ape's lips, "For I am not. I am his son."

Surprise ran in a shudder through Ramarak's body, and Gaw tilted her own head quizzically. So this was not the same Kong who was created by the Tagatu, and sought to invade Skull Island in the past? Yet the resemblance... well, if this one was offspring of the former, then it would make sense they would bear such similar features. But that would also explain the slight differences that kept nagging at Gaw's mind. As seemingly similarly mutated by alchemy, this Kong did have a potent aura of youthful power about him that Gaw wouldn't expect from a centuries old creature, even if they were a long lived species.

"You lie," Ramarak said.

"I never lie," Kong said flatly, "I was at that long ago battle. But I was at the fringe of the poisonous gas you unleashed, Ramarak. I escaped the worst of it, but the rest of my kin? My mother and father?" A powerful growl built in the depths of his chest and came out in a grinding, dark tremble that chilled Gaw's bones. "I got to watch every one of them die. The weakest first, but then even the strong ones wasted away, choking on their own blood. My father may well have survived it, his will was that strong, but when my mother died, that will of his was broken. So it is left to me, the last Great Ape, the last 'Kong', to do what my father could not."

Ramarak regained her composure, hissing in and out a deep breath, "You'll fail. I regret what needed doing, but your kind's invasion had to be stopped. The alchemy that taints your blood does not belong in the natural order."

"Dogmatic as ever," Kong said with a grunt, "Let it be known I am a merciful King. I have every right to vengeance for my kin, but that would be a waste. I grant you the same chance my father granted in the past," Kong unshouldered his axe and pointed it at Ramarak, "Bow before your rightful King. Do so and I will grant you and your tribe a worthy place within my dominion, with my vow you and your tribe will be treated with honor. Refuse, and you all shall perish and your remains used to decorate my throne."

"And I give the answer my master once did to your father, throneless 'king'," Ramarak spat, tail lashing behind her, "Skull Island will _never_ be yours!"

"Hmph, a shame, but the answer I expected. I've honored your ancestor with their skull to adorn my father's axe, and for no other reason than your courage, I'll find an appropriate place for yours as well. Now... what of you?" Kong turned his eyes towards Gaw, who tried to stand as tall as she could to meet his gaze with a challenging one of her own. "Long have your kind stood against my family's rightful rule of this land, but I confess my father always spoke of the Deathrunners and it's Gaw as worthy foes. You would flourish in my kingdom, were you willing to serve. You are natural warriors, and could enjoy much fine hunting under my rule. I intend to spread my dominion well beyond this island, young Gaw. Imagine the future your people could have at my right hand? Endless bounty of food from limitless hunting grounds, and the glory of conquest of lands you can't even dream of. What does this Ramarak offer you, against that? A quiet, boring life without meaning, and the stifling of your fullest potential as a hunter? Bow to me, and I will honor you and your tribe with a place of prominence in my kingdom. You are not bound to the mistakes of your forebears, and I am not bound to my father's desire to slay you all... so perhaps you are wise enough to see what greatness we could achieve, together?"

Gaw blinked at the mountainous ape, taken aback on multiple levels. He certainly did talk a lot. As Ramarak had said, she suspected he enjoyed these formalities before getting down to the business of violence. But Kong was clearly no fool. He had not dropped his guard or stance of ready power for an instant, leaving no opening that Ramarak or Gaw could have taken advantage of to interrupt his speech. Also, there was an unexpected sincerity in his words, long winded as they were. Gaw believed Kong meant every word he spoke. If Gaw or Ramarak took him up on his offer, she believed Kong would be good at his word and treat their people with respect. It was an unexpected nobility from what she'd envisioned as nothing more than a violent conqueror. Perhaps the son was not entirely like the father? Yet despite that... all she had to do was look upon Skull Island's clean, clear and primal nature, it's balance kept by a Guardian that respected the island, and compare that to the alchemically altered King and his host of similarly twisted humans of underground creatures to see that even if she did take Kong up on his offer, she'd find herself serving a kingdom that did not align with her own heart. She barked out a short, sad laugh that sounded much like her namesake. Kong drew in a sharp, unamused breath, but Gaw simply barked another laugh and shook her spiked head.

"You speak with conviction, ape. Long winded conviction, but you almost make me believe in your words. But no. Abandon my tribe's virtues and values, and the home we've guarded for generations, for the sake of your delusions of grandeur?"

She shook her head and stomped her feet on the ground, and let out a bellowing roar, "My answer is _no_, would-be 'King'. Young I may be, but my heart beats true as a protector of my tribe and this island! I stand with Ramarak. Skull Island will not belong to you this day, or any other day while I still breathe!"

A slow rumble of furious anger built in Kong's chest as he said, "Unfortunate, but so be it, then there is nothing left to-"

"I'm not _finished_," Gaw barked, and Kong paused, raising a curious if bloodthirsty eyebrow as his hand gripped tighter upon his axe and it turned it towards her. Gaw spoke quickly now, for she knew Kong would likely strike soon, but she had an idea.

"You've brought your army of little man-things, and unnatural creations," Gaw went on, flicking a dismissive claw at Kong's army, "As we have brought our tribes to face them. But why bother? Neither army matters."

"I do not share your view, little Gaw," Kong replied, "My army could sweep yours aside without much effort."

"Even if that were true, which I know it is not, it changes nothing," Gaw replied, "The true battle is between you, I, and Ramarak. Nothing else matters. If I and Ramarak fall, you alone could destroy our tribes. If you fall-"

Kong snorted at the notion.

"-_if_ you fall, your army could be destroyed by I and Ramarak in turn. Hence, ours is the only battle that actually matters in this basin."

"I fail to see what you're driving at, but go on, I can grant you that much before we get to the business at hand," Kong said, keeping his axe aimed at Gaw.

Ramarak was looking at her curiously as well, and Gaw just gave her a reassuring look back. Really, it was all fairly simple in Gaw's mind. If the two arrayed armies clashed, even if her and Ramarak's tribes won out, the number of deaths their two tribes would suffer would be great. A portion of Gaw's tribe remained with the eggs, and in the event that the battle was lost, those Deathrunners were under orders to take the eggs and flee into the Hollow Earth and attempt to escape to somewhere safe. Yet, if the battle was won, it would still mean countless hatchlings would come into the world without parents to guide them. Deathrunners were a tough species, and even hatchlings could be self-sufficient, but it'd long since become the tribe's way for the community to care for the young and teach them. It was that sense of tribal community that had made the Deathrunners ever stronger over time, and if the tribe fought here, now, Gaw didn't doubt they'd fight with courage and tenacity, but _every_ death would diminish the tribe as a whole.

And a victory built on the blood and bodies of her people felt to Gaw like no victory at all.

"What I am saying is that let Ramarak and I do battle with you, and you alone. Our gathered tribes may watch and bear witness."

"And why would I deny my warriors their own chance to earn honor in battle alongside their King? They marched all this way with me, it'd be insulting to tell them to stay their hands while I alone enjoy the heat of battle," Kong replied, icily casual.

Gaw met that cold gaze, controlling the fear inside by reminding herself of all that was at stake, "Because it would be a waste of your followers. Each one dead is one less subject for your dominion, one less to produce future generations to worship you. Why allow such waste, when you know you can defeat us yourself? Is that what a King would do? What do you care more about, the lives of your followers, or the sight of them slaughtering and being slaughtered in a pointless battle?"

The titanic ape warlord considered the comparatively small theropod chieftain, his eyes drilling into her, until he then chuffed out a short laugh, "I see what you're doing, little Gaw. Seeking to spare your tribe the bloodshed. Admirable, if foolhardy. Your only chance to defeat me is with the sacrifice of your people, as it was in the past when hundreds of your kind and Ramarak's sought to swarm my kin and parents. You are right that, alone, the two of you stand no chance against me. Yet you'd seek that impossible battle, in the vain hope of sparing your people? You'd stand alone, against my might, for them?"

Gaw raised her head, "Without hesitation."

A spark of respect appeared in his eyes at her swift answer, "It truly is a shame you're choosing death, then, over service. I'd have been honored to have you at my side instead of under my axe. You do understand that when you fall, and I heave your broken corpse on top of Ramarak's, that I cannot afford to spare your tribes?" the dread King said, voice harder than the iron plates of his armor or merciless edge of his axe, "I would take no pleasure in it, but without you or Ramarak to guarantee their loyalty, I cannot risk potential traitors or dissidents within my kingdom. You risk all of your tribes lives by refusing my rule, or seeking to defeat me alone, without their aid."

"That will happen regardless, if we lose," Gaw replied, and barred her sharp rows of teeth at Kong, "So I suppose that means we'd better win."

"Ha! A worthy flame beats in that tiny chest. After you fall I shall keep your skull enshrined in a place of honor, as a reminder of the courageous heart of the _last_ Gaw. Ramarak, what say you to this?"

Ramarak had kept quiet during this part of the talks, her emotions inscrutable from her body language, which had gone deathly still. Her eyes were contemplative, especially as she looked at Gaw with a mixture of approval and, to Gaw's eyes, a sense of finality. The Guardian of Skull Island reared up as much as she could with her two limbs and stared Kong in the eyes.

"I say my apprentice has been well chosen, and if you fight us alone, neither my tribe or hers will break ranks and attack, as long as your... people, remain bystanders as well. This shall be between the three of us, to the death."

"So it shall be, then," Kong said.

It took only a few minutes for word to be spread. Gaw and Ramarak informed their people of what was to happen, while Kong returned to the ranks of his army. Gaw's curiosity got the better of her and she watched to see just how Kong communicated with his human worshipers. It was easy enough for her to understand Ramarak, or even Kong, for many of those of their ilk had an innate grasp of each other's body language and the intricate meanings between various primal growls, hisses, and grunts. It was almost like nature itself shared a greater, universal language that was as developed as any human speak. Yet only certain humans seemed to be able to understand it as well, in Gaw's experience.

She saw Kong speak to only a small cadre of Atu, who were dressed in more elaborate outfits than the simple warriors. Each bore headdresses of bone and leather, and carried staves caped with skulls. Shamans, of some kind? Whatever they were, it was they who appeared to understand Kong's words, and then communicated the great ape's will to the rest. The Atu rose up a great chant once more, cheering on their god as he strode back to the center of the basin to meet his foes in a two on one duel.

Gaw herself exchanged only a few last instructions with her tribe, and received the heartfelt calls from hundreds of Deathrunner throats that encouraged her for the coming fight. Her only instructions, were she and Ramarak to lose, was to _not_ try and avenger her, but to fall back to the nesting grounds and buy as much time as possible for the eggs to be evacuated to safety.

Then, with her heart hammering in her chest with both anticipation, fear, and a fiery determination, Gaw turned and joined Ramarak in marching back towards Kong, and a battle she knew well she might not survive.

* * *

With the satisfying shake of the Earth beneath his feet, Kong was in an relatively good mood as he sized up his foes squaring off with him across the wet jungle basin. As disrespectful as the adolescent Gaw was, he was pleased at her defiant will, and admired her bravery and dedication to her people. It was a bittersweet mix of disappointment and pleasure at Gaw and Ramarak's refusal to join his kingdom. He'd have kept his word and given them and their people a place among his followers without grudge or disrespect, and he knew his kingdom would have grown all the stronger for adding the Skull Crawlers and Deathrunners to it's numbers. He couldn't deny a part of his heart still beat with a bitter, angry pain at both tribes, however. His memory of the battle three centuries ago had not dimmed with time, nor had the cold memories of the months that followed. He could still remember the horrid stink of the poisonous fumes that had touched his nose as he'd fought a pack of Skull Crawlers at the edge of that long ago battle, and the terrible burning pain as the fumes seared his lungs. He could still hear the piercing roars of agony from his kin who'd been less fortunate than he, long after the retreat back to his father's kingdom deep beneath the Hollow Earth. As each one died, the weight on young Kong's shoulders had increased. When he'd come upon his mother for the last time, seeing the trickles of blackened blood trailing from her dead lips, he remembered the shocking cold within. But worst of all had been seeing his father, the true Kong, the indomitable King, lose that fierce, proud spirit that had driven him for as long as the younger Kong had known his father. That vitality had dribbled away like water down a muddy slope, until upon the same day his mother drew her last breath, so too did his father... a memory he kept locked away in his rage and sorrow clad heart.

He'd smothered that bitter loneliness with the pride of forging and ruling his kingdom in his father's stead. He took up the mantle of both Kong and King, and relentlessly planned for the day of his return to Skull Island, filled with a burning desire to finish what his father began. So he was not _that_ disappointed that Gaw and Ramarak had refused his offer. If they would not serve, he could at least enjoy the glory of a worthy battle, and a tiny slice of revenge. Besides, a conquest was never so sweet as when it was taken by force. With blood, fire, and iron.

He breathed in the sweet smells of his island, for in Kong's mind Skull Island was where he belonged. The three centuries of absence only made his return all the more satisfying. He enjoyed the kingdom he'd forged deep beneath the sun's rays, in the cavernous abyss of the Hollow Earth. He enjoyed ruling over his loyal Atu subjects, who knew their place and indeed flourished in his stern, but in his mind just, kingdom. Yet the time had long since come for his dominion to spread. He would claim his jewel, his capital, his home upon Skull Island, but it would not end there. His ambitions burned even further than his father's ever had.

He'd not been idle all these years. He'd watched. He'd sent scouts across the world. He knew of events upon the surface world. Humanity was in turmoil. No surprise there. With humanity largely engaged in its own wars now was indeed the time to strike and to carve out his wider kingdom. First, however, he'd secure his homeland from the... squatters who dared to call it theirs while in the face of Skull Island's one, only, and _true_ King!

He could see, if not hear Ramarak and Gaw communicating quietly as they moved out to meet him. Planning some 'strategy' no doubt. It was quite amusing they thought they had a chance of winning. As if plans would matter in the face of his power. Granted, he'd underestimated the Skull Crawler, once, but he couldn't imagine Ramarak managing to pull any real tricks out this time. After all, all the Tagatu's old stores of alchemy were burned up the last time, so there was no threat there.

As for Ramarak's mastery of the Earth's mana to command the elements, well... Kong had since evened that particular playing field. As he came to a lumbering halt, hefting his axe, he took a deep breath and let it out in a deep, feral growl that shook the air. He tapped into the deep-seated fury in his heart, the furnace of rage that fueled his desire for conquest over all he surveyed and felt the Earth itself tremble at his heart's calling.

The Skull Crawler shamans might have understood nature's balance and how to call upon the elements by balancing themselves in attunement to that nature, allowing them to utilize the natural mana of the planet to command the powers of the land... but Kong had found his own path. The Earth was not solely about balance. It_ could_ feel fury. Nature was often known for its wrath, and in Kong it recognized that fundamental wrath given form in the flesh. The Tagatu may have used alchemy to make him more than 'natural', but that didn't matter. Not to the Earth.

Kong opened up the battle with a sky splitting roar and raised his right foot, smashing it to the ground as he poured his wrath outward, and the element of earth leaped to his call with its own, eager fury.

Jagged blocks of stone ripped upward in a wave towards Gaw and Ramarak. The pair dove apart, swift in their reactions if still clearly surprised by the speed and ferocity of Kong's opening attack. He didn't give them a moment to recover, focusing on Ramarak first as he charged forward, and swung his axe in a powerful overhand arc. The Skull Crawler matriarch showed the classic agility of her kind and used her tail to help herself leap aside of the mighty blow. The axe shattered the ground where it impacted, and Kong turned it, sweeping it out to try and catch his foe while she was still off-balance.

Ramarak made a low hum deep in her gullet, and Kong sense the elements bend to her call now, a shelf or rock tearing itself upward to shield her from Kong's axe. His blow still ripped the rock asunder, but it bought Ramarak a necessary moment to scamper to Kong's right, circling him.

Kong felt more than heard the swift pounding of footfalls that announced Gaw's charge behind him, and he turned and lashed out with a left backhand. He managed to catch Gaw mid-leap, the giant theropod having made a jump for the back of his knee with claws on both her hands and feet poised to tear into his joint. Instead, she caught his fist on her side, and she let out a satisfying yelp of pain as she was sent rolling across the ground like a skipping pebble.

Ramarak used his moment of distraction to get under his right arm and sink her jaws into it, just above his wrist. Kong grunted as he felt her teeth dig into his flesh, while her tail whipped around and grappled his right leg and she tried to drag him off balance.

With his axe temporarily unusable, he instead braced his legs against Ramarak's pulling and raised his left fist, and proceeded to pound it into Ramrarak's head. Tough as she was, after several blows that struck like avalanches, she was forced to let go of his arm and back away, shaking her head in a daze. Kong pulled back his axe for what would be a killing blow, but then Gaw, having managed to get her feet back under her, rushed and sprang off of Ramarak's back. She landed on Kong's right shoulder, and began to claw and bite with unabated savagery.

Unfortunately for her, Kong's armor, much like his axe, was no ordinary iron. Treated by Atu alchemy, it was many times tougher than the simple ores that made up its initial form. Gaw's clawing yielded little other than a few scuff marks on the armor, and Kong reached up to grab Gaw by the back of the neck, yanking her off of him.

She immediately began to claw and thrash at his arm, both her talons and the spikes covering her body leaving several bloody cuts, but nothing Kong couldn't take. He began to _squeeze_, intending to snap the brave, but foolish Gaw's neck, but Ramarak raised her head to the sky and let out an annoyingly loud, undulating howl. The sky darkened with clouds, and abruptly Kong saw a flash of blue and white as several lightning bolts rained down from the sky and struck him.

The lightning was... uncomfortable, but far from enough to be lethal to one such as him. Still, it caused a spasm in his hand, and he ended up dropping Gaw. Granted, Gaw herself took some damage from the electricity coursing through Kong, and hence her, but she was resilient herself, and it'd take more than a few bolts to put her down. She even managed to land with a controlled roll that got her back on her feet in an instant, and rather than charge right back in she began to circle to Kong's right, while Ramarak circled to his left.

He snorted, not bothering to try and counter their flanking maneuver. He was growing tired of this. The sport was amusing, but he had a kingdom to expand and a throne to rebuild. It was time for him to get serious, and truly test the mettle of his opponents.

Kong rounded on Ramarak and lowered his shoulder into a full-body charge, faster and with greater agility than any motion he'd made before. Ramarak tried to roll with the blow, but couldn't fully evade it or lessen its impact significantly. Bone cracked and the Guardian of Skull Island was sent flying, one of her legs horribly twisted out of place from the brunt of being slammed into by one hundred meters and easily eighty thousand tons of alchemically enhanced muscles and iron.

Gaw let out an outraged roar and jumped upon Kong's back, scrambling up it as he reared back to his full height. She got to his neck and managed to sneak a bite onto it's corded muscles, but couldn't get enough purchase to inflict any serious wounds before Kong spun around and grabbed her off by the tail. Now dangerously suspended from the powerful ape's grip, Gaw found herself swung about and then slammed to the ground. The impact shot the breath out of her and jarred every muscle and bone to near breaking. She was almost certain at least one or two of her spikes had been snapped off by the blow.

Stars burst in her vision and for a moment she couldn't even properly register the pain, let alone breathe or sense her surroundings. She then felt an unbelievable _pressure_ on her chest, crushing her downward. When she finally got her bearings and blinked away the fuzz to see what was happening, she found herself on her back, with Kong's left foot pressing down on her chest. He stood above her with pitiless eyes as he bore his weight down upon her ever so gradually, as if he wanted her to know and fear her impending death, and see that he was savoring it.

Gaw couldn't draw in breath, and struggled beneath Kong's merciless, crushing weight. She clawed at his leg, but even though her talons cut his flesh and drew thick, dark red blood, it was if Kong was immune to the pain. Or perhaps he just refused to let himself feel it. He gazed down at her with an grimace, showing his sharp, pearl white teeth.

"Valiant, yet foolish. You could have become something much more, serving under me. Now, you die here, and for what? A blind notion that your mentor's quaint shamanism supersedes my _right_ to rule?"

The wind suddenly howled and rose with massive, hurricane force. The abrupt tempest smashed into Kong's chest. It wasn't enough to actually hurt him, but it pushed him off of Gaw, allowing her to finally draw in a ragged gasp of air. As she looked above her, she gaped as Ramarak all but flew across her vision. The Skull Crawler wasn't actually flying, but the wind she'd called up assisted her jump, even with one broken limb. It let her soar right into Kong at just below his center of gravity. She might have been smaller than him, but Ramarak was not a small creature. Her weight, propelled that fast, and striking that low, was enough to bowl even the mighty Kong off his feet.

Both slammed to the ground with enough force to make the ground quake.

Gaw was still trying to get breath into her lungs, and was barely able to turn herself over, still gasping as she watched her mentor leap atop the fallen Kong and got at him with a remorseless, brutal fury, unlike anything Gaw had ever seen from the elderly Skull Crawler.

Ramarak bite and clawed with spittle flying from her maw, soon joined by blood as she found weak points in Kong's armor and started to tear the iron plates off of him. Kong didn't stay stunned for long, however, and had kept his grip on his axe. He slammed it up and across his body, smashing the haft of it into Ramarak's side. She lunged for his face, but he got the axe's shaft between her and him, her mouth clamping on the iron bar instead. Still, she clawed, and bent her body around to wrap her tail around Kong's neck.

As Kong felt his air pipe get clenched shut, he felt the first, faint stab of concern. His pride flared, however, unwilling to acknowledge even the slightest possibility of defeat, and his fury was renewed as he pushed hard on his axe and Ramarak along with it.

He then freed his right hand and grabbed Ramarak's head, shoving his thumb straight into her eye. Blood spurted out as the eye popped, and Ramarak's scream pierced the air. Kong took the moment to throw himself over so that Ramarak was now beneath him, and he atop. Her tail was still around his throat, squeezing, but Kong now had better leverage and used his own axe's haft to press down on Ramarak's neck. She struggled, but couldn't get herself free, and Kong used his still free hand to grasp the other side of her head, and methodically gouged out her other eye.

Gaw's heart was breaking at her mentor's screams. She was drawing upon all her remaining strength to stand up once more, despite the pain of what had to be several broken ribs in her chest. She staggered forward, and seeing a large chunk of rock from Kong's opening attack nearby, she grasped it in both her claws and then hurled it with all her might at the back of Kong's head.

Miraculously, she struck true, the cabin-sized boulder cracking right into the back of Kong's skull. He grunted, and turned a rage-filled glare back towards her. By now Ramarak was barely hanging on to consciousness, and her tail's strength had waned. Kong ripped the tail off his throat and proceeded to stand, while Ramarak struggled to even lift her one unbroken limb. Though Kong's furious gaze was now locked on Gaw, he kicked Ramarak savagely several times, as if to emphasize the Skull Crawler's anguish.

"Stop it!" Gaw shouted, "She can't fight back anymore!"

That much was true. Blind, with one limb broken, and the rest of her having been badly beaten, it looked like it was all Ramarak could do to just keep drawing in breath at this point. Kong looked unimpressed.

"Then death is a mercy, is it not?" he said, raising his axe to finish Ramarak off.

"What, you don't want to make her watch as you kill me, her apprentice? Would that not be fitting revenge for the loss of your parents?" Gaw taunted, desperate for a plan, or at least anything that would get Kong away from Ramarak.

"Hmph, vengeance is sweet enough in the slaying-"

"Afraid to leave her alive, even without eyes and barely able to move? Some King. You may be about to kill us both, but there's nothing in you worthy of that title. You are no King, and certainly no successor to your father. So fine, kill her, then me, but you deserve no respect. You said you were no petty child, but if that is so then you'd already be coming for me, an opponent still standing, than seeking to finish one who can no longer offer you a fight. You're a coward."

It took a moment, but Kong turned towards her, fury painted across his face, "As you wish then; you die first."

Well, that was step one of the plan complete. She turned and began to move as fast as her wounded body would carry her, heading west out of the basin. After a second, she heard a furious roar behind her and glanced to see Kong was giving chase, having left Ramarak behind.

Well, that meant her plan was technically working, at least up to the point that she got Kong to start chasing her. Even her own head was a tad fuzzy on what step two or three of this plan actually was.

She'd chosen to run towards the ruins of the Tagatu city in the forbidden land because it would provide cover she might be able to use to ambush Kong, but as she gained speed through the power of adrenaline helping her ignore the pain of her wounded body, she started to think of the Tagatu's temple. The temple was what Kong's father had considered his old throne. Chances were the younger Kong would defend it out of pure pride, just as his father had when Ramarak had burned it in her youth.

_But there's nothing there now. Nothing but that gas..._

Gaw blinked as an idea sparked into being. It was crazy, but plausible, but only if she could call upon the elements. Gaw blew out a resigned sigh and put on more speed, feeling the earth shake at Kong's footfalls behind her. If the elements didn't respond to her this time, well, she wouldn't have long enough to regret it, so what did she have to lose at this point?

Kong had a longer stride than her, but he was also not quite as agile on the turn, and Gaw managed to pick up speed through the river valley leading into the forbidden portion of the island. Her physique was certainly built for speed over a long sprint, so she actually managed to open up the distance between her and Kong. Her body was certainly protesting, and the pain in her chest was especially worrying, but Gaw at this point was running on pure adrenaline and stubbornness. She was regulating the pain to a back corner of her mind, knowing death was likely one way or another, but resolved to see through her mad plan to the end, if for no other reason than to show the would-be King that his conquest would not come easily.

She had a good half-mile lead on Kong by the time she got to the Tagatu's ruins. The hazy, smoke-filled barrens looked even more ominous in the darkening light of late evening. The shadows of countless skeletons surrounded her with their sightless gazes as she ran into the area of dead rock, dirt, and gaseous fissures. After a hundred or so paces she came to a stop. She heard Kong's roar reverberating off the canyon walls behind her. He was coming, and she had minutes to accomplish what she'd failed to do for over a year of training.

Gaw took a deep breath, forcing herself to ignore the sharp pain in her chest. She tried to empty her mind of her fear, her anger, her frustration. She concentrated on the feel of the earth beneath her clawed feet, and the hot, dry touch of the wind on her scales. Gaw tried to take in the faint sound of the ocean waves and tinge of its salty scent on her nose, and feel the hot, fiery beat of her own heart.

Still, she couldn't feel that return echo of the elements. Grinding her jaw tightly, Gaw lowered her head, and placed one of her large talons on the ground. Inside her mind she couldn't keep silent, and spoke, hoping the Earth was listening.

_Please. I know I'm not worthy. Ramarak has faith in me, but I've never felt it was well placed. I only took on her training because I didn't want to insult someone I respect. I never wanted to be Guardian. But... this is not about me. Right now a monster is seeking to make this island his, and if he succeeds nothing but suffering awaits those who call Skull Island home. So please, just for a few short minutes, give me your strength. Hear my call. Even if I'm fated to die here, today, just help me save my people..._

It was odd. When she thought of her people, it wasn't the Deathrunners alone that came to mind. She felt them all. The Skull Crawlers, the countless herds and tribes of dinosaurs. The swarming flocks of birds, and endless schools of fish. From the smallest bug to the largest beast, Gaw found herself seeing every form of life on Skull Island, in all its intricate balance of life and death, and saw them all as her tribe. They certainly all competed for food and space, as was nature's way, but they all existed as parts of a system that was, in its whole, a singular, beating heart.

Suddenly the sharp scent of the ocean grew so vivid in her nose it was as if she could taste its surf on her tongue. It's soft call of waves filled her ears alongside the soothing whistle of the wind that passed by her, and sensed the pulse of life carried in that wind as if it was singing to her. The earth grew warm under her talon, and even in this damaged, tainted place, beneath it all she could feel the slow, steady vibration of its eternal breath. And inside herself, and all around her, was the constant, flowing heat of her own blood, the fire inside it and inside everything, that gave life its passions and determination to survive.

The elements spoke to her of a world filled with cycles, a cycle that she was a part of as all life was a part of. It filled her with a golden, clarion tone that connected her heartbeat to everything else around her, and Gaw wept at its beauty.

Kong's fierce bellow behind her snapped Gaw back to the reality of her situation, but even then she still felt the heartbeat of the elements inside her, and she turned to face him with a renewed sense of purpose.

The gargantuan ape warlord's body was fully lit by the setting sun, and he stalked towards Gaw with axe in hand, murder in his eyes to go with his supreme confidence and arrogance. Gaw could see clearly now that Kong had been fairly well wounded by Ramarak's last struggle. The places where Kong's armor had been torn off also showed vicious claw marks that oozed blood, and he was slightly favoring the foot that he'd used to try and crush Gaw. Apparently, she'd done more damage than she thought. Still, Kong was still in much better condition than her, over twice her size, and Gaw now stood alone against him.

"I know your taunts were just to get me to leave the old Skull Crawler alone, but don't think you've spared her. All that's changed is the order of your deaths. You both have brought this fate upon yourselves."

Gaw didn't respond. She saw there was no point. It was if she could see Kong more clearly now, and realized how clouded his vision of the world really was. Even if he could tap into the Earth's fury to call upon it in his own, simple way, he was still blind to the wider truth of how all life was connected. He saw only a world to dominate, and perhaps his own loneliness and pain. In a small way, that was in tune with nature, for in nature the strong did tend to rise to power, and pain could be a source of strength. Alphas were part of the natural order, and the Earth recognized an Alpha in Kong. Yet he was still only seeing with one eye open, not understanding the _reason_ the strong existed. Not to use the weak for their pleasure or to exalt themselves as 'Kings', but to serve the good of the tribe, the tribe all life was a part of whether individuals understood that or not.

Kong could rule, and dominate, and had a sort of honor and nobility within him, but he'd never truly be King unless he removed his own ego from the equation and learned to rise above his pain. Gaw had a hard time imagining he'd ever be able to do such a thing on his own without another to bring him down a few hundred pegs and guide him, and it wasn't her task to do that, only to ensure that he was stopped, here and now.

To that end she turned and broke into a sprint. To Kong's view it would appear like she was running away again, but Gaw knew what she was doing. Kong roared and broke into the chase once more, and put on a surge of speed to try and catch up with his foe. Gaw breathed deep and steady, and felt for the wind. She may never have done this before, but Ramarak had shown her many times how each element behaved. An element could never do more than it was naturally meant to, and had to be present to make use of. That was why Ramarak hadn't used any water in the battle with Kong, despite that being the element she was most strongly attuned to. There just hadn't been enough in that basin to make much use of.

However, the air swirled all around Gaw, and in her heart she knew air was an element she was strongly attuned to. In her mind's eye she imagined what she needed the wind to do and asked for it humbly, feeling the sensation of a cool, fresh breeze on her scales. The wind rose up to her call, and began to billow around Gaw's path in circular motions.

The soupy haze of gas began to coalesce around her, following her in a growing bank of fog-like yellow smoke. The smell burned her nostrils, but Gaw ignored it and felt through the earth to sense what lay ahead of her now that her vision was obscured. Kong saw her form being concealed by the gas and growled, smashing his axe at where he thought she was. Gaw had already turned sharply, however, dodging around a large ape skull that got smashed by Kong's axe instead. Kong kept on, pumping his arms as he rushed to chase her, looking towards swirls in the gaseous fog to pinpoint where Gaw might be. Again and again his axe smashed down, and Gaw leapt and dodge to avoid its devastating edge.

The ruined buildings of the Tagatu city passed by her and provided extra cover, their already crumbling stone walls turning to powder under Kong's ferocious rampage as he continued to trail her. More and more of the gas was gathered by the winds Gaw call, forming an ever growing and concentrated pool of it.

"You think a little fog is going to protect you?" Kong roared, crushing a twenty-meter tall pillar with a casual backswing of his axe, spraying rock shards for hundreds of feet. "What will you do when you run out of space, I wonder? You'll need more than a little breeze to keep your life, Gaw!"

Gaw ignored him and poured on a final sprint of energy as she sensed the temple up ahead. Without slowing, she hit the lowest tier, and began to scramble upward. Her claws bit hard into stone as she scrambled and hopped up the ruined temple's exterior. She kept the fog covering her as much as she could, but for her plan to work, she had to keep it concentrated beneath her and couldn't afford to spread it out, so within a few moments she was exposed, still only halfway up the temple. Kong saw her, and flashed a teeth, violent grin.

"There you are."

His axe flashed forward and Gaw flung herself to the side, barely avoiding the deadly blow that blasted apart a large section of the temple she'd just been climbing on. She still managed to find purchase on the temple's side, and rushed up higher, while Kong pulled his axe back for another swing. Gaw heaved herself upwards, clutching a large outward carving of a skull on the tier above her. Kong's axe smashed through the stone wall just beneath her, and chunks of rock pelted Gaw, one of them large enough to break one of her toes. Gaw growled through the pain and stubbornly continued to climb upward, finally getting high enough that if Kong wanted to strike her he'd have to start climbing himself. The temple was only twice his height, still an imposing edifice of ancient human engineering, but all Kong would have to do would be to climb up one or two tiers to reach Gaw as she herself arrived at the top.

"Get. Off. My. Father's! _Throne_!" Kong's voice echoed for miles in his undiluted rage as he began to climb after her.

With difficulty, Gaw found her balance on one side of the split roof portion of the temple, and looked to the sky. She'd seen what Ramarak had done earlier, calling down the power of the storm. If she could manage to do the same...

She pictured it in her mind, a single white lance of lightning forking down from the heavens, and raised a talon above her head. The wind was already billowing loudly around the top of the temple, and Gaw let its trilling whistle fill her mind as she called out to it with a loud, beseeching roar. Kong didn't know what she was doing, and at that point didn't care. His sole focus was on crushing the persistent wretch who was defiling his family's birthright and standing in the way of his destiny to rule over Skull Island.

Pulling himself up the temple with a few great, grasping motions with his long arms, getting himself more than halfway up in mere moments and more than close enough that his head was almost level with Gaw and his great axe well within range to swing. As the titanic cleaver came smashing down, Gaw had no room to dodge left or right without throwing herself off the temple, so instead, she jumped _forward_, just barely passing beneath the axe's edge. She grasped the axe's shaft and used it to lever herself around and swing back towards the temple. As she did so, she lashed out with her tail, whipping Kong's face with it. The spikes on her tail, combined with the rather potent power behind the thick limb, lashed a painful line across Kong's left eye. She didn't take the eye out, but it left that eye blinded with blood.

She landed on the right portion of the split temple, just as Kong roared his pain and let go of his axe, leaving it embedded in the other side of the temple's roof. He then shoved his fist into the temple's wall, just beneath Gaw, and she felt the Earth tremble at Kong's call. The stone shook and split, much as the peak had when Kong first arrived, and Gaw had to scramble to keep ahead of the temple's right side breaking under her. With a desperate leap she flung herself up and grasped Kong's axe, still stuck in the other side of the Temple. She climbed up it and jumped off the haft just as Kong yanked it out.

Storm clouds had gathered above, forming in the sky at Gaw's urging call, and she felt the buzzing anticipation from the elements. She just needed a few more seconds of focus to bring the spark down that may well end this battle, but Kong was pulling back his axe for another swing.

If she dodged it again, she had nowhere to go, and would likely fall down the entire height of the temple to a probably fatal end. If she stayed and finished calling the lightning down, she couldn't dodge the axe, and her end would come just the same. But then, so too, might Kong's.

_If this is where I die, then it's the right place, at the right time, for the only reason worth dying for,_ she thought, feeling oddly at peace as she closed her eyes and put all of her focus on calling out to the waiting elements in the sky above.

Multiple things occurred within the same heartbeat.

The sky flashed and the storm clouds sent down a single brilliant lance of lightning down to the temple where Gaw called for it.

Kong's axe descending towards her, aimed true to split Gaw straight down her center.

A focused but _powerful_ gust of wind came in from the east and struck Kong's side, throwing off his axe's aim so it hit the roof next to Gaw.

The impact still knocked Gaw backward, stumbling off towards the back of the temple facing the ocean cliff.

Then the lightning bolt fell straight down the center of the temple where it had been split centuries ago, and went right down into the mass of concentrated, flammable gas that had been gathered there.

Kong saw this, and realized he was essentially standing in a giant fireball waiting to happen, and that the one spark was all that was needed. He still managed to let out a defiant roar of denial before the gas ignited and the temple, and a large portion of the surrounding area, were engulfed in a sudden inferno.

Gaw felt the heat on her, and the explosive wave caught her mid-air, and it was pure luck that it hit her in such a way that it actually flung her even further outward, even as the fire scorched her scales. Her vision tumbled and tumbled, until she realized she had been flung _beyond_ the center of the explosion and tossed right out over the seaside cliff by several hundred feet.

By the time she registered that much, she'd already hit the water, and was engulfed in cold and darkness. Fortunately, Gaw knew how to swim. Ramarak had made a point of teaching her. So while pained and disoriented, Gaw found a way to right herself and reach the surface in short order, her head breaking the water with a gasp. Her body ached from burns, but the water did help soothe that to a degree, and she was barely able to tread water as she looked towards the cliff and the temple.

Fire still billowed up into the sky, along with black, oily smoke. And Kong thrashed within, still alive, his roars of pain and fury echoing like demon howls. Then the cliff itself rumbled. The explosion must have finished off what might have been centuries of the stone being weakened by ancient chemicals and erosion, for within moments the cliff itself began to break apart beneath the temple and take both it and Kong down into the sea.

The last Gaw saw of Kong was his flaming, howling form, still showing as much rage and defiance as pain, as he smashed into the water with several hundred thousand tons of temple and rock falling into the water right behind him.

Afterward, there was an eerie, deathly silence that lasted for some time as Gaw just floated there, too stunned to do more than keep her head above water. It was an utter shock to her that she was still alive, let alone dare to hope that Kong was defeated and that it was well and truly over.

How had Kong's axe missed her? It wouldn't have stopped the lightning from coming down to ignite the gas she'd gathered, but Gaw had expected to die right then and there.

A few minutes later a familiar form dragged itself to the new cliff edge, a good hundred or so feet deeper inland now. Though her eyes were gone, it seemed Ramarak could still 'see' to some degree, for her battered face looked towards Gaw. With an undulating, coughing noise, Ramarak called to the elements, and Gaw felt the water around her swirl, and then swell up. It carried her, gentle as a mother cradling it's child, to the new cliff face, so she could grasp the stone and keep herself above water.

"Child, are you well?" Ramarak called down, coughing again, this time in pain.

"I am," Gaw called back, "You?"

"I have felt better. I do not recommend crawling any distance with one broken arm and no eyes. It is not fun, even with the elements to guide me. Wait there, and we'll have you up soon."

By 'we' it soon became apparent Ramarak meant her tribe, for a few minutes later a large group of Skull Crawlers came over the side of the cliff, climbing down it to Gaw's side. They used their powerful tails to grasp her from sufficient angles to support her weight, and carried Gaw up the cliff to join Ramarak at the top. Seeing her mentor up close, Gaw drew in a sharp breath. Ramarak's body was bruised and beaten so badly it seemed impossible she could move.

"Ramarak, your wounds..."

"Do not fret, child. I... will live," Ramarak said, and hissed to her Skull Crawlers her thanks but to give her and Gaw some space. As they obeyed, Ramarak turned back to Gaw, "I'm only glad I was able to make it in time to help you."

"The axe," Gaw said, "You used the wind to knock it off course."

"Yes. It was about all I could do, and I only wish I could have done more," Ramarak said, and leaned forward to touch Gaw's brow with the tip of her snout, "But I am so proud of you, Gaw. You found the elements at last. Heh, and showed quite a bit of cleverness in their use."

Gaw couldn't do much more than lean into Ramarak's touch and give a humble incline of her head, "I'm grateful they let me hear them. It would have been a short plan if they hadn't."

Her eyes turned towards the ocean, and the bottom of the cliff where she saw Kong fall, "Do you think he's dead?"

Ramarak made a tired noise between a huff and a sigh, "I cannot say. He does know how to swim, after all, and there are ways back into the Hollow Earth beneath the waves, as well. If he survived the fall, and the rocks, then it is unlikely he has perished."

Gaw shared Ramarak's sigh, "If he does still live, then let us hope he does not return for a long time."

"I wouldn't be surprised. His body might recover quickly from wounds, but his ego will likely take longer to heal. He may spend quite some time sitting amid his kingdom below, reassuring himself he wasn't beaten by a young Guardian not even half his height."

"Hmph, you flatter me. I'm no Guardian yet."

Ramarak stared at her silently, somehow conveying her seriousness even without eyes to look with. Gaw gulped as she looked back, now stammering, "Ramarak, you can't be serious. I might have called the elements today, but I still need so much training-!"

"And you shall have it," Ramarak said firmly, "But my days as Guardian are over. My body might heal, but never fully, not from this. My leg will always be crippled, and my eyes will not regrow. Young you may be, child, and yes you have much left to learn... but from this point on you_ are_ Skull Island's Guardian."

Gaw looked at Ramarak, then bowed her head, "You're not going to budge on this, are you?"

"Not at all," Ramarak replied with a pleased hiss, which then broke down into pained coughing, "Now come, Honored Guardian, help this old, wounded female back somewhere comfortable."

"Oh you are going to milk this, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you mean, child. Now, let me lean on you, yes, very good. Perhaps I should have you carry me, Guardian?"

"Don't push it."

"Perish the thought."

Upon returning, albeit slowly and painfully, to the basin where the two armies had squared off, Gaw learned that Kong's army had been surprisingly true to their King's decree. They had not broken truce, nor indeed moved so much as an inch even after Kong chased Gaw away from the basin. And upon the massive explosion of the temple, which had been heard from practically every corner of the island, the Atu warriors seemed to sense the result of the battle. Their shaman had led them in a loud, mournful chant, but rather than attack in vengeance, they simply turned and marched back into the depths of the Hollow Earth. Perhaps they knew their 'god' would not die so easily, and would find them back in their dark home in the depths? Whatever the reason, Gaw was grateful for their departure without bloodshed.

It also made her wonder. Kong was brutal creature, and an ego-driven conqueror, but somewhere beneath all that clouded narcissism and violence lay... something more. He'd endured a pain that was difficult for Gaw to understand. She did not have 'parents' in the real sense of the term, but she did have kin she loved; her whole tribe. How would she have felt, had her tribe been taken from her in similar fashion to how Kong had lost his own people? What agony would her soul endure, watching her people suffer and die slowly? In some ways, she could easily see herself becoming even more bitter and brutal than Kong was, and that it was in some ways miraculous that he'd managed to rise up to rule his people at all. Then there was his bizarre honor. It was something that could make the savage appearing Atu still adhere to a code. Something that would honor courageous foes. Something that did, in fact, want to _rule_ and not just murder and destroy. Somewhere, deep in that savage heart, was the spirit of a King, if only it could get through the layers of iron Kong had clad his heart in to endure his own suffering.

It was a shame, she found herself thinking later. The Tagatu had made a monster of Kong's father, who in turn had led his son in an invasion that had caused the younger Kong to grow into a conqueror as well, but if not for all that what manner of noble King might have risen? Perhaps in another life, she'd had found herself willing following that King. A strange notion, but it remained floating around in the back of her mind in the times following that fateful battle.

She and Ramarak spent most of the next month recovering from their wounds, and as Ramarak predicted, she never did truly regain her full range of motion. Her savaged leg was all but crippled, and though she could still sense the world through the elements, Ramarak's blindness did slow her somewhat. She'd never truly be able to act as Guardian again, but now Gaw took to that role with a newfound humility and passion. She trained as never before, knowing that there were threats out there in the world that required her to be ready.

She felt almost certain with each passing day that Kong had indeed survived, and that she would have to face him again. Next time, she would be ready, not as Gaw of the Deathrunner tribe, but as Gaw; Guardian of Skull Island.

* * *

_Broken._

_ That was a word both impossible and so descriptive for the beings the young ape had seen as so invincible. The two who'd fended off attack after attack by the denizens of this hollowed earth, despite being outsized or outnumbered. The two who'd overthrown much of their human tormentor's chains and took control of their kind's fate. The two who'd managed to find a respite of joy in this underground hell, of which he was born from. The leaders who'd seized their fates and resolved to halt the demise of their kind by any means necessary, even if it meant invading the realm, the comparative paradise they'd been banished from._

_ Especially if it meant a better life for their first born._

_ But the King had been cast down before even securing his throne, with his beloved Queen cast lower._

_ The would-be prince whimpered as he tugged at the shoulder of his mother, all alone in the chamber besides her. Once one of the prime examples of science, alchemy, and nature; her corpse had long gone cold; the skin below her pale hair stiffening and contracting as coagulated blood remained on her poisoned nose and lips; some of it staining her son's cheek. He tried to rouse her again, loathed to how someone once so lively, so warm; could be so cold and so still._

_ A footstep and a dragging, ugly noise broke the silence and the young ape turned to look upon the arrival._

_ It, he, too was once a living dissonance. The matured silverback ape had previously been the greatest of his kind in stature and power; only rivaled by his mate. He too had been exposed to the crawler's poisons, but to a lesser degree; the only ape fighting fit upon the withdrawal. His son thought him invincible, even when another loathsome beast from the underground came to sack their domain while they were weakened, and his father had gone out to fight it alone. _

_ But each minute his mother weakened, each minute the echoes of his father's solo battle with the tusked behemoth sounded off across the hollows; the young ape found something festering in him of which he'd never truly known. Flickers of hatred._

_ All aimed at the one who'd abandoned them when his mother expired and wasn't their to help with his weeping, mourning sobs after. It was juvenile, but so was he. In a moment of blind rage, the young ape scrambled up and snarled a bark at his sire, intent of rushing and beating his small fists against the bull ape._

_ It was only seeing his sire's sorry state did he stop. It… was so wrong. It was so wrong to see someone so invincible, who his son thought could fight a dozen, no, a hundred crawlers alone; like this! His mother had fallen from a coward's poison, but surely none could triumph or deal a mortal wound to one such as his parents in battle!_

_ But, such it was. Victorious as he was, the old King had lost so much. His stone axe was shattered, small fragments lodged in his wrist and arm with the broken handle dropped aside. One hand was missing several fingers and massive claw wounds had carved deep into the muscle of both arms. He was all over battered, bleeding, and bruised; the worst of which being a sharp tusk that had been rammed into his gut and erupted from his side. The snapped off end spoke of what happened to the owner of it, just as distant cheering from the humans spoke of feasts upon their body._

_ But the first King Kong's focus was entirely on the source of his greatest loss of all; his single remaining eye on his dead mate. _

_ He limped over and crumbled to his knees like a felled tree. There was silence for what felt like hours, before the young prince heard the impossible. _

_ His almighty father weeping, and not from any of his wounds._

_ What followed came as a blur, but the little ape's fists fell open and the same hands he once wanted to pound at his father with found the gnarled and bloodied digits of his sire. The sick and stink of ichors was pungent, but barely paid attention to. Within moments, the same arms who'd once held him did so again. They embraced and cried. One hating how his ambitions had cost his life so much, the other hating fate for making his life so._

_ Fires flickered in the little Kong's heart. The wrath, the craving he felt. He didn't blame his father as the old ape did, but he did have a target of blame. The ones who'd dealt this hand to them. Soon enough he'd age, he'd grow as his father healed. In some decades, they'd regrow their strength and return. Destroy the cowardly, spoiled, entitled wretches who'd forced this upon them; and all else who didn't stand beside would be trampled underfoot. The young prince's fists curled as his teeth gnashed and ground so tightly, he split one of his baby teeth. Wincing only briefly in pain, the young Kong reached in and ripped the canine fang out, killing the old to make way for what would be new. _

_ Blood dripping from his lips, he pulled back to tell his father not to worry as this wouldn't be from the same cause as mother's bleeding jaw. He was too fired up to realize the pain anyways._

_ And he'd been too fired up to realize just how much time had passed, and how cold his father had gotten. Cold, stiffen, and still._

_ The wailing, sirenous cries carried on for hours._

Waking from the depths of memory, Kong's bloodshot eyes flicked open, greeted by familiar darkness. The cavernous chamber echoed with the pleading chants of his loyal Atu as they prayed for their King's recovery. The acrid stink of alchemic fumes and fluids filled the air as the Atu priests worked upon his body, helping his body's already potent powers of recovery work even faster. He ignored it all, especially the pain snaking through his body and the deep rooted sadness and rage coiling in his chest. Gasps and cheers rose from the gathered Atu upon seeing their master rise, but the living mountain paid them little heed and instead frowned as he looked upon his axe. Stronger than his father's, refined by years and quenched in experienced bloodlust. A small bit of bone protruded from part of the shaft. Tied in by the hair of the two greatest of the Great Apes, a canine tooth glinted in the dim light. A long cast promise set to fruition lead to him tightening his grip.

* * *

_Years later..._

The wind was warm and sweet on Gaw's body as she slowed her breathing and listened to the air's soothing voice. Her heart beat loudly in time with the Earth's empowering pulse, and she opened her eyes to greet a new dawn with an energetic, roaring yawn as she stretched herself from her sleeping position and to her full, seventy-meter tall height.

Around her the Deathrunner tribe was already awakening and filling the air with active, happy trills, which were accompanied by many fresh, smaller voices of new hatchlings. Gaw carefully moved around the nesting grounds, ensuring not to tread upon any of the scampering forms below as she made her way across Skull Island.

All around her the island came alive with the awakening of its daytime denizens, and Gaw felt a firm contentment at every familiar call, chirp, or distant roar. Flocks of colorful birds took flight from the jungle treetops and flew alongside her vast, crimson bulk as she made her way towards the lake on Skull island's north side. Upon her red-scaled flanks were now swirling white patterns, the same shaman symbols that Ramarak used.

Reaching the lake, Gaw wasn't surprised to find Ramarak standing up to her chest in it's emerald depths, fishing out a breakfast of large, flopping fish.

"Good morning, Honored Ramarak," Gaw called out, stomping into the lake to enjoy its refreshing, cool touch, and to start seeking some fish of her own, although a giant octopus would be delightful too for that morning's meal.

"Ah, young Guardian, I'm glad you came here so promptly," Ramarak said, gulping down a near fifteen-foot long fish before turning her blind eyes towards Gaw, "We shall have a visitor today."

Gaw paused in her own snapping up of a fish to give Ramarak a curious tilt of her head, "Visitor? From where? Not more of those humans with their loud flying machines again?"

_That_ had been quite the episode. Gaw still didn't much like humans, but she accepted them as part of nature, if albeit a very odd part of nature she still struggled to understand. Really, what was it with humans and their explosives, machines, and obsession with poking their noses into everything? Well, at least that situation had ended with... only minimal mayhem, all things considered.

Ramarak shook her head, "No, not humans. An _old_ friend of mine got in touch. It seems there is trouble brewing in the wider world. He asked for my help, not knowing that I had already turned my position over to my successor."

"I see," Gaw growled in contemplation, "What help is this friend of yours asking for then, that he's coming here himself?"

Ramarak's sightless gaze turned upwards, "You can ask him yourself, for here he comes now."

Gaw turned to look upward to the eastern sky, and blinked upon seeing what looked like an oncoming bank of pure white clouds, moving faster than any she'd seen even with the strongest wind. Then she heard a distant, odd noises, like loud, golden chimes.

**Bidibidibidi...bidibidibidi...**

Who was this 'old friend' of Ramaraks? Also, why was Ramarak smiling at her like that?

"Oh, how I wish I still had eyes, just so I could see the look that's about to be on your face, young Gaw."

Gaw started to ask what that was supposed to mean, but her words were caught in her throat as the bank of fast-moving, white clouds soared over Skull Island, and broke apart, revealing within an image of golden radiance.

The creature was vaster than any other living being Gaw had ever seen. Three heads of purest gold stood from a powerful, scaled body that shone as bright as the sun above. Each head held a noble, draconic shape, replete with a lighter gold mane that glittered in the morning light, twin horns curling back from each gleaming brow. Vast, mountain spanning wings spread from the creature's main body, so wide they shadowed all beneath them. Long, twin tails spread out behind the creature, ending in large white spikes atop mace-like ends. The three-headed being of golden scales soared across the lake, billowing winds in its wake, and with shocking aerial agility it turned about in mid air and landed on the opposite bank.

Gaw braced herself for the impact, but to her shock the titanic golden dragon landed as lightly as a falling leaf upon its two thick legs. Standing now on the ground, Gaw estimated the three heads caped a total height of at least one hundred and twenty meters, maybe larger. It was hard to tell. The three heads, each bearing eyes as bright and red as rubies, turned to look at her and Ramarak in turn.

Gaw was in awe, but that gaze also immediately put her at an odd sense of ease. Kind amusement and patient benevolence radiated out of those soft red eyes. When the dragon spoke, it was in a firm yet richly inviting and soothing tone, like some kindly yet mischievous grandfather.

"Ramarak, it does us good to see you once again, although it pains us to know the injuries you suffered. If only we could have been here to prevent it."

The three heads spoke with one voice, which made Gaw wonder if she was seeing three separate entities that shared their thoughts, or one entity that had three heads. Shaking off her confusion she glanced at Ramarak as her mentor responded, bowing her head.

"It was an unavoidable battle, and one I and my one time apprentice were able to survive. We both know you have a much wider sphere to protect than just one island in the South Pacific, King Ghidorah."

King? Gaw wanted to start asking quite a few questions, but was wise enough to know to wait. Whoever, or whatever this King Ghidorah was, she suspected it was smart not to interrupt him.

He gave a sad chuckle like the sounding of a golden gong, and said, "An unfortunate truth, yes. All this power, and three heads, and I still can't be everywhere I need to be, or see all I should. Still, you have my thanks for safeguarding this place, as you and your line have done for so long. Skull Island may be a small part of a vaster world, but it remains an important one. But today I am here because that lager world is facing dire threats, and I confess to a desperate need of aid. I know this is presumptuous of me to ask, but that is why I came personally; I need the help of Skull Island's Guardian."

Ramarak nodded, tilting her head towards Gaw, "Which you now know is a title that does not belong to me. Gaw here is my apprentice no longer. I've trained her in all my knowledge, and it is her aid you must ask, not mine."

King Ghidorah inclined his central head, then all three turned to Gaw. She felt as if those ruby eyes could strip right through her flesh and bones and look right into her, yet it wasn't a judging stare, merely an insightful one.

"Gaw, Guardian of Skull Island, I greet you, and imagine you must have some questions for me."

"...A few," Gaw said, "But most of them can wait. Tell me of these threats you speak of first. You came here for aid, but know that protecting this island is my duty first and foremost. I must know the extent of what is happening in the wider world before I can decide whether my help can be given."

"Naturally. I understand your position quite well. Know that I wouldn't have come unless there was no other choice. I am but one defender of this world's peace, among others, and recent events have occurred that have... displaced several powerful, key defenders whom I have come to rely upon to safeguard this world when I must leave it to handle other matters. Unfortunately, things have escalated elsewhere to the point that I must depart the Earth for a time. I have several allies I trust who are remaining here to continue protecting the planet, but I fear they may need aid. So I humbly ask that you, Guardian, join with them and lend them your strength against the foes rising to threaten this world."

It took a few moments for Gaw to process all of what this strange, golden dragon had said. He was speaking of not just the wider world of Earth, but other worlds now? _What_ other worlds? And he still hadn't described what the actual threat was. And he wanted her to leave Skull Island to fight beside his allies, whom she'd never met?

It was quite a lot to take in and consider, let alone immediately agree to. Yet she sensed Ramarak next to her, and needed no great imagination to know what her mentor would have done had she still been Guardian. Still, Gaw needed to know a few things...

"If these threats are enough to concern the world, then it would be foolish of me to assume they wouldn't one day threaten Skull Island. You may have my aid, King Ghidorah. But first, I would know of these allies of yours you would have me work with, and the specifics of the threats we will face."

"Of the threats, there are many, I fear," Ghidorah replied, "Even with some in particular also having been displaced, that has simply left a power vacuum that others have rapidly filled... including one familiar to you. Not long ago, a human city in the country known as 'Japan' was struck with a great earthquake, and then attacked by an army of strange humans from beneath the earth, led by a giant ape bearing a deadly axe."

Gaw took in a sharp breath, and let it out in a growl, "Kong. So he has decided to seek his conquest elsewhere, rather than Skull Island? I feel almost... insulted by that fact."

"He was driven off by one of my allies, but I fear he will quickly resume his attacks, for I suspect he is coordinating with another deadly foe," Ghidorah said, but then one of his heads shook and he continued, "But I can tell you more of the threats we face soon enough. You asked of the allies you would be asked to fight beside? Well, I imagined you might want to know, and one, ahem, rather _eagerly_ volunteered to come as well."

One of his other heads cocked, and he sighed, "And that would be her. I suggest you duck and cover."

"What? Why-" Gaw began to ask, then heard a sonic, piercing noise from above, and glanced up just in time to see a swift, white form barreling down straight from above, the sun having masked it's approach.

"Whooooooohhooooooo!"

Almost impossibly the white form spread its wings that had been tucked in at its sides, and almost instantly leveled out and skated across the lake, leaving a sonic boom behind it that threw up a tidal wave of glittering green waters. Gaw was caught completely off guard, drenched in the wave that didn't quite knock her off her feet, but certainly splashed her with a face full of water and very shocked fish.

Sputtering water, and knocking off a fish that was flopping on her head, Gaw looked to where the white form flew up, banked hard, then landed atop one of the mesas surrounding the lake.

"Now c'mon Old Man G, give it to me straight, was that a ten pointer or not?" chirped a happy feminine voice that practically burst with energy.

King Ghidorah coughed politely and said, "I would call it a high nine. Your descent angle was still a tad off. At any rate, Gaw, allow me to introduce one of my allies, Guardian Beast Irys. Irys, this is Gaw. She too is a Guardian, albeit not quite in the same manner you are."

What stood atop the mesa was a stark white creature that looked like a cross between a bat and some manner of pterosaur. A flat-topped, V-shaped head led to a sharp pointed beak, and merrily shining pink eyes. The creature had wide, near delta-shaped wings, and stood on comparatively small but grasping, clawed feet. She turned her bright, friendly gaze towards Gaw and waved a wing.

"Hey there Red! Real pleasure to meet you, and let me just say, I _love_ those tribal markings on you. Between those, that juicy red color, and the totally hot physique, you're definitely an A-rank. So I hear you can do cool elemental stuff, right? I shoot sonic beams myself, they're pretty cool, cuts all sorts of stuff in half. Hey can you fly, like that kid in that one human cartoon? I guess you guys don't get TV out here, even with satellites. No biggie, I'll have Gigan hook you up later, we can have a show night sometime. Did you know he can totally project stuff out his eye? Oh wait, I guess you wouldn't because you haven't met him yet, but you're gonna _love_ Gigan, he's like the most awesome big brother type _ever_-"

"Does... does she ever stop talking?" Gaw quietly asked King Ghidorah as Irys continued on.

Ghidorah's three heads all sagged slightly, "If she's given a minute or two she usually slows down, but I suppose we should hurry things along. Ahem, Irys... _Irys_."

"-and I dig the feathers... huh? What's up?"

"Perhaps you and Gaw could take a moment to get to know one another, maybe even have Gaw show you around the island. I have a few matters I wish to discuss with Ramarak before we depart."

"Sounds awesome!" Irys leapt off the mesa and skillfully glided down to land next to Gaw. It somewhat galled Gaw a bit to realize the chatterbox was actually taller than her, although she suspected Irys' slim build was quite a bit lighter than hers. Irys got rather uncomfortably close and patted Gaw with a wing. "So you've never been off this island before?"

Gaw glanced at Irys, honestly not at all sure what to make of this odd female. "I've lived here my whole life, yes."

"Well hey, must mean you know where all the best spots to snatch a bite to eat are! I'm famished. Skipped breakfast to keep up with Old Man G here. He might not look it, being like, ginormous and stuff, but he can fly way fast. Anyhow, let's grab us some grub and have ourselves some quality bonding time! You can tell me all about this place, and I'll tell you all about... well everything else, since you don't know anything beyond the island. Oh, and my family/best friends, I gotta tell you all about them-"

Gaw raised a claw and placed a single talon over Irys' beak, "Shush."

Irys quieted down, looking at her curiously. Gaw cleared her throat and said, "I will listen, but only if you slow down."

"Slow down?"

"Say more with fewer words."

"You're gonna be like Megs, aren't you, only scaly and kinda hot?"

"I don't know what a Megs is, nor what it means to be hot in whatever strange context you're using, but I'll just assume you're saying something I'll understand later," Gaw said with a sigh, then made a 'follow' gesture with her head, "Come then, if we are get to know one another, we may as well begin with me showing you my home."

"Sweet!" Irys hopped along next to Gaw, moving with surprising grace for someone without a conventional, bipedal gait, "And don't worry Red, I get the feeling you and I are going to be best friends before the day is out."

_That is a prospect I am somewhat afraid of,_ Gaw thought, marching off alongside a strange new companion, and into what would become the most bizarre chapter of her life she could have imagined.


End file.
